Till Death Do Us Part
by shinsei101
Summary: UPDATE: CHAPTER 21 IS NOW UP! Life is finally peaceful for the Kenshin gumi. That is, until a girl from Soujiro's past emerges, seeking revenge. By shinsei & baka.
1. Chapter 1

_A few notes on this story: First, this story is written by TWO people: me (shinsei) and my friend, baka (ha)Just so you know, baka writes odd chapters, shinsei writes evens. Also, Amaya is an oc, in case you're wondering. Also, yes we know a katana is a type of sword, but we looked it up and it's also a name, so please bare with us. To avoid future confusion: Amaya and Katana are the same person!_

_Disclaimer: we don't own Rurouni Kenshin, sadly_**

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**Till Death Do Us Part**

Part One (by baka)

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The golden sun hung high in the mid afternoon sky. Amaya, an eight year old girl, came trotting from the nearby meadow. The forest green ribbon she clutched in her hand fluttered playfully in the cool breeze. Amaya brushed her coal black hair out of her eyes and continued her steady pace toward the small village that lay over the next hill. As soon as she got to the top of the hill, she stopped and gazed down. Her small, cozy village lay snuggled between several hills. Her deep green eyes sparked merrily and she sprinted the rest of the way down the hill and to her house.

"Mommy, Daddy where are you?" Amaya called as she entered the house through the back door. She wanted to show them her new ribbon. It was her absolute favorite color. She stepped lightly into the dim house. All the shutters were latched firmly over the windows. Amaya cocked her head curiously at that; it was so sunny and beautiful outside, why shut the shutters? The house was eerily quiet; it seemed no one was there. Curious, Amaya walked slowly through her home, clutching her ribbon to her chest protectively.

She walked to the kitchen, which was in the very front of the house, and gazed around. There were dirty plates and bowls laid aside carelessly on the countertop; that was very unusual, because her mother would never leave dirty dishes like that. Then suddenly, she heard a familiar voice coming from outside. Amaya recognized it as her father's and happily skipped to the door. She flung it open and saw an odd sight. Her father's face was hard, and etched with anger. Beside him, her mother holding her baby sister, looking worried and afraid.

It took her a moment to realize her father was speaking to somebody. It was a man sitting slouched in the saddle of a bay horse. The man wore a deep purple robe that covered most of his body, but his face was rapped in bandages. Beside him, a small boy around her age stood, his face emotionless. His light brown hair ruffled in the wind and she noticed he had a sword at his belt, as did the man on the horse. She could now hear her father clearly now.

"Get out of our village! Criminals like you are not wanted here!" The man on the horse smirked and turned to the young boy.

"Sojiro," he said, "This farmer is becoming a nuisance. Rid me of him now."

"Yes Shishio-sama," the boy's voice was as emotionless as his face. Before Amaya could famine what was going on, the boy called Sojiro swiftly unsheathed his blade and stabbed her father through his heart.

Her mother screamed "Nooooo!" and the man called Shishio unsheathed his sword in a movement so fast; Amaya's eyes were unable to see it. The blade sliced through her mother's throat easily. Her little sister, Sayuri, fell from her mother's lifeless arms and began to cry, like she knew what was happening. Fed up with Sayuri's lonely cries, Shishio killed her too. Amaya's eyes widened as she saw Sojiro: he was smiling! Smiling like he had enjoyed slaughtering her defenseless father and enjoyed watching his master murder a woman and mere infant. Shishio and Sojiro: those cursed names branded into her memories along with their devilish faces. Tears began streaming down her face and she couldn't stop them.

"Weak people," Shishio said suddenly to Sojiro, "if you are strong you live, if you are weak you die." Sojiro nodded and continued smiling.

Someone grabbed her from behind and she let out a scream before she realized it was her older brother, Taro. His face gleamed from sweat or tears, Amaya wasn't sure. His dark black hair was in disarray, and she could tell from his grip on her shoulders he was scared, but his deep blue eyes told of a deep bravery that fit him perfectly. Without saying a word, he quickly shut the door and ran, dragging her along with him, over to their family's indoor shrine, which held her family's treasures, passed from generation to generation. He grabbed grandfather's swords, her father's treasures that hung on the back wall, above the small golden Buddha statue. Taro quickly bowed respectfully to the statue and spoke a soft prayer under his breath. Those swords had protected many people during the war but since then they had never been used, because this was supposed to be a time of peace. Her brother abruptly let her go and whirled around to face her.

"It's all right Amaya," he whispered soothingly. Amaya realized she had been sobbing ever since she had been dragged away from the door. Amaya raised her free hand and wiped the tears from her cheeks and sniffed. "Listen to me Amaya." Taro said, taking both her hands into his. "We have to escape. Be very quiet and follow me. Do you understand?" Amaya sniffed again and nodded slowly. "Good. Let's go!" Taro stood up and tucked their grandfather's swords under one arm, and clutched her hand with his own. Amaya carefully stuffed the green ribbon into the pouch around her waist. Taro and Amaya quietly tiptoed out of the house through the back door and jogged up the hill, away from the bloodstained village that was their home.

Halfway up the large hill overlooking their house, Amaya and Taro noticed the boy Sojiro was walking leisurely slow behind them. It took them a moment to realize that Sojiro was following them, but it puzzled them why we walked so slowly. Taro's grip on her tightened and they quickly picked up speed. Amaya's main focus wasn't on their stalker, but on her own mind. Her mother's screaming and her sister's crying kept echoing through her head, tormenting her. Oh, how she despised Shishio and Sojiro for what they had done; killing her mother, father, and baby sister! Then she noticed Taro was leading her to the hill that overlooked the river. _Mommy and daddy took us on picnics here maybe we can go tomorrow... No! No they can't—they're dead!_

Her brother's grasp brought her back to reality. But she wasn't being pulled along anymore, but falling. Before her small mind could register what on earth was going on, they hit the water. The water was freezing and Amaya felt her knee scrape hard against some sharp rocks on the bottom of the river. Shaking, Amaya stood got her feet and stared. Blood was rushing down in the water with the current. There was so much that it looked like the river had begun to flow blood instead of water.

_Where is it all coming from? _She thought, terrified. Slowly, she forced herself to look down at her brother, who wasn't moving. Out of his back stuck three arrows, then, he sank under the river of blood. Amaya screamed and wasn't sure if she was shaking from the cold or pure terror. Instinct told her to look up, and she did so. At the edge of the cliff stood Sojiro, holding a wooden bow and _smiling. _Amaya balled her hands into small fists and struggled to hold the tears back. Sojiro cocked another arrow and Amaya ran off to the shore and out of sight of Sojiro.

Once she was on the shore she began to think of the blood, so much blood from mommy, daddy, Sayuri, and Taro. She started walking in a random direction, which she did not know or care. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew that she just wanted to get away from this place, this bloody place. While walking along, Amaya spotted her grandfather's two swords, which had apparently been swept along by the current, then pushed up on the shore. She picked them up not knowing what else to do, for what was an eight year old supposed to do when her family was dead?

Amaya pulled out her now soaking wet, forest green hair ribbon to tie them together. That ribbon had given her such joy earlier, and it was all she had wanted that day, but now she would give everything for her family to be alive, for it was them that brought her the greatest joy. Before she could stop herself, she felt hot tears trickle down her cheeks. A thousand curses to Shishio and Sojiro! Every thought was consumed with plotting revenge, because all she wanted was to make them feel how she felt. She wanted to make them feel alone, all alone as they had done to her, alone with no one to help you, no one there to protect you.

In the next life she would have to apologize to her grandfather. Apologize for using his swords to bring death, when he had always said they were meant for protecting. She wanted to become stronger, to avenge her family. She knew they would bring death because that was the only reason she had for living: revenge.

_If you are strong you live, if you are weak you die._

That was what Shishio and Sojiro had said. She would become strong and they would be the ones that were weak. When that happened, they would deserve to die for just like they said: if you are strong you live, if you are weak you die. The words echoed endlessly throughout her mind. If you are strong you live, if you are weak you die…If you are strong you live, if you are weak you die…If you are strong….

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Amaya woke up in a cold sweat, screaming, "No! No! I don't have to care! I am not Amaya anymore! I am Katana, Katana nothing more, nothing less! I don't have to care!" She was Katana now ever since that cursed day, her eighth birthday. Now the day she dreaded most was the one when most people where celebrating life. But she wasn't most people. That day only reminded her of death…death and loss of everything she had ever known or loved... that day eight years ago. The last day she had ever cared truly about something. 

Now she only thought of finding them, those two, and destroying them. She smiled at the thought of seeing their faces when they lost everything. For now she was strong and they would die trapped in their words: if you are strong you live, if you are weak you die. Her only truth now was those words. Funny isn'tit, her only truth came from the person who striped away all others? She laughed silently because she now found things like that amusing.

_You learn the most from the people who hurt you the most_, She thought as she lay back down and fell asleep.

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_Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Please, pretty please review and tell us what you think so far!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Notes on this story: ok, it may seem really cheezy...i don't really like how it turned out, but the main point here (yes! there is a point to this madness!) is to "introduce" the usual characters and how they feel and act around each other._

_To answer some burning questions I recieved emails for: yes, amaya and katana are the same person and yes, she is an oc (didnt I already talk about this?) and, hmmm...i dont wanna give to much away...but yes, there just might be some souxoc stuff, but first she'll have to get over the desire to kill him (ha ha ha)_**

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Till Death Do Us Part**

Part Two (by shinsei)

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Kaoru absently wiped the sweat off her face and adjusted her hands on the wooden sword hilt. A few feet away from her, Yahiko, equally as sweaty and tired, stood in the beginning stance for a sword attack. Without warning, Yahiko launched himself, sword raised at Kaoru. Easily reading his attack, Kaoru shifted her shinai to block his attack. Just as easily, Kaoru switched from defensive to offensive. Her sword was raised above her head, and then brought swiftly down, aimed on the top of Yahiko's head. But the boy's reflexes were quick; Yahiko raised his own weapon to shield Kaoru's attack. His knees buckled slightly at the force of it, but he managed to stay on his feet. Desperately wanted to end the duel and lay in the steaming tub, Kaoru flipped her blade against Yahiko's, sending it clattering to the floor. Yahiko lunged for the it, but Kaoru firmly laid her foot on it.

"It's over Yahiko," she said, breathing heavily. Yahiko looked down at his feet and Kaoru saw his hands form tight fists. Kaoru sighed and laid her hand lightly on his shoulder. "It's all right Yahiko. You can't win every battle." Yahiko raised his head and simply glared at her. Kaoru felt a pang of guilt. _I went way too hard on him_, she thought, ashamed. _I was only thinking of a nice bath…_ Kaoru sighed again and realized she'd have to apologize. "Yahiko…I'm sorry. You were tired and I went much to hard on you. Listen—to make up for it, we'll go to the Akabeko for lunch."

A smile tugged at Yahiko's lips. "Uh…sure." He leaned down and picked up his practice sword and walked to the door. He was just about to walk out when he stopped and turned back to look at Kaoru. Yahiko looked thoughtful for and minute, and then spoke up loudly, "Can we practice again after dinner?" His eyes pleaded, as if he had enjoyed having his butt whipped by her.

Kaoru smiled and shook her head, "Why not? Go tell Kenshin and the others. Hurry!" Yahiko smiled and ran out of the dojo as Kaoru walked off to take a bath.

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Kenshin sighed heavily and adjusted the sword at his belt. _There isn't a cloud in the sky,_ he thought. He closed his eyes and a breeze began to blow gently, sending his red hair fluttering across his face. Shuffling footsteps brought him back to reality. Turning, Kenshin saw it was Yahiko, soaking in sweat, his breathing laborious. Panic zipped through Kenshin like an electric shock. _Did something happen…?_

Yahiko stopped and smiled at him. "I've been looking for you everywhere Kenshin!" He laughed at the confused look on Kenshin's face. "I just finished another grueling practice with the raccoon lady." Kenshin smiled. "Anyway, Kaoru said we could go to the Akabeko for lunch. So…can we? Do you mind Kenshin?" His deep eyes pleaded and begged up at him.

Kenshin smiled and answered, "Of course Yahiko. Where is Kaoru-dono now?"

Yahiko started off toward the dojo and yelled over his shoulder, "She went to take a bath. Could you find Megumi for me? I'm going to tell Sano." With a burst of speed, Yahiko sprinted back off to the dojo, leaving Kenshin to follow slowly behind.

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Agentle knock at the door made Megumi turn around. She laid the towel she had been drying her hands with on the floor and walked to the door. She slid the door open and smiled broadly. "Ken-san! Please come in!" She stepped aside and Kenshin silently slid into the room. "That rooster head isn't with you, is he?" Megumi asked, looked out in the hallway.

Kenshin shook his head, "I'm afraid not Megumi-dono."

Megumi slid the door shut and smiled. _Good, some time alone with Ken-san…_Megumi turned and sat very close by Kenshin.

"So Ken-san…do you need anything?" Kenshin opened his mouth to speak, but Megumi didn't give him a chance to. "I know! Are those old wounds Shishio gave you bothering you again? Here I can help." Without warning, Megumi leaned over and yanked Kenshin's shirt down.

Kenshin blushed and tried to stop her. "Megumi-dono, you don't understand—"

Megumi gently put her hand over his mouth. "Now, now Ken-san! Don't stress yourself. I understand perfectly." Megumi scooted herself behind Kenshin and reached for her bottle of ointment. She popped it open, smeared some of the gooey substance on her fingers, and then massaged it on the old scar on Kenshin's back.

Kenshin shivered at the cold of it, and sighed. _This is getting me nowhere._ He thought. The fingers left his back and Kenshin got ready to tug his shirt back up and quickly stand up. Before he could move, however, Megumi's arms wrapped themselves around him. Feeling his face get hotter, he struggled to get out of her grip.

"Megumi-dono…" he trailed off, knowing it was hopeless. _I came to ask if Megumi-dono wanted to go eat lunch and this is where it gets me…_His thoughts ended when Megumi rested her head on his shoulder and rubbed her cheek against his. Right when he thought his face couldn't get any redder…sighing, Kenshin readied himself to jump away the minute Megumi let go.

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Kaoru quickly tied the pink ribbon in her hair and stood up. She had decided to wear a deep maroon kimono, one that Kenshin had said he liked. Lighthearted, Kaoru practically skipped out of the room, almost running into Yahiko in the process. "Yahiko…" she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You didn't take a bath yet did you?"

Yahiko smiled innocently up at her and replied, "Nope."

Kaoru sighed in exasperation and replied firmly, "Go take a bath now."

Yahiko stuck out his bottom lip defiantly. "Why ugly?" Kaoru grinded her teeth at the mention of the horrid nickname.

"One: You stink. Two: No Akabeko if you don't." The last bit of what she said sent Yahiko zooming down the hall. "Where's Kenshin?" She yelled after him.

"He went to tell Megumi!" Yahiko disappeared around the corner. The words stung her and left her blood feeling cold. She instantly shook off the feeling. _Don't worry,_ she told herself firmly, _nothing is wrong about Kenshin being with Megumi. Alone._ Before she even finished the thought, she was running towards Megumi's room.

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Kenshin waited in humiliation for Megumi to let go. All it would take was for someone to simply walk in the room…As if on cue, the door of Megumi's room slid open and to his horror, Kaoru stepped in. Kenshin saw her reaction as if in slow motion. It first took her a moment to register her surroundings: Shirtless Kenshin and Megumi cuddling on the floor like lovers. Her eyes widened and her face paled. A second later, it lit up red as a tomato and tears welled in her eyes. Swiftly, she turned her back.

"I'm sorry Megumi-san. I should have knocked. I had no idea you and _Ken-san_ were…" she seemed unable to finish her sentence. Her shoulders shook and Kenshin heard a sob escape her throat. "I…. uh…" Kaoru ran out of the room, her face buried in her hands. Kenshin immediately jumped up and headed for the door after her, ignoring Megumi's protests.

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Kaoru ran and ran, horrified. The image of Kenshin in Megumi's arms…the very thought made her sob harder.

WHAM!

Kaoru bounced back after running smack into Sano.

Sano looked annoyed and started, "What the—" One look at her tear soaked face stopped him. "Hey…!" Kaoru quickly elbowed past him and ran outside toward the river.

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Kenshin skidded to a halt when he saw Sano. "Sano! Have you seen Kaoru-dono?" Sano had a dumbstruck look on his face, but turned his head slowly over to him.

"Kenshin? Jouchan? Uh…she just ran out side, that way." Kenshin nodded his thanks and ran offin the direction of Sano's pointing finger.

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Kaoru collapsed on her knees by the bank of river and sobbed. The day had seemed to hold so much hope and happiness…all squashed by her barging in on Kenshin and Megumi. Her first thoughts were, of course, that it was his entire fault, though for no apparent reason. Then her rightful mind took over and that she had no control over how Kenshin thought about Megumi, or even herself, for that matter. It wasn't _her_ choice, but the truth still stung like a sword slash across her gut. She abruptly stopped her bawling at the sound of sandals trudging on the grass toward her. She stood up and wiped her cheeks. She was sure it was Sano, chasing after her to see why she had been crying.

Embarrassed, she tried to explain, "Sano…I'm sorry about my display in the hall. I was acting so childish over something so…." She trailed off. How to word this? "I know you're probably wonder what all that was over, but it's really not my business to say. You'll have to ask…Megumi." She just couldn't bring herself to say Kenshin's name. "I'm just trying to say I'm sorry…for running into you in the hall." How lame. She sounded as empty as she felt, and Sano probably knew it. He most likely thought she was a dumb, ugly raccoon girl. Kaoru sighed and bowed her head and then closed her eyes.

The sound of footsteps resumed and drew closer to her, but she ignored them. She reluctantly opened her eyes and stared at her feet. As shadow lay over her, and a pair of sandals were right behind her. Then it hit her—Sano didn't wear sandals. In shock and horror, she realized that the person she least wanted to see at the moment was standing right behind her.

Kenshin gentle laid his hand on Kaoru's shoulder. At his touch, she stiffened like a board. Kenshin felt a new rush of guilt wash over him. Because of his foolishness, Kaoru had been hurt. If he had just jumped up and left the minute Megumi advanced, none of this would've happened…Kenshin shook his head furiously. _What's done is done, and there's nothing I can do to change it_, he told himself. Kenshin opened his mouth, but found it dry. Not like there was anything he could say anyway. Suddenly, Kaoru whirled around and stared at him. Another pang of guilt stung him when he saw her tear streaked face.

"Kaoru…" he trailed off weakly. Then, something dawned in her face, but he didn't know what it was.

"Kenshin…" A sudden smile lit up her face. "You called me Kaoru." Kenshin stared blankly at her.

"Uh…I did? But that _is_ your name…" Kaoru shook her head.

"No, no Kenshin. You always call me 'Kaoru-dono'. But just a minute ago you simply said 'Kaoru'." Kenshin froze and realized he had. Embarrassed at his rudeness, he struggled to find his tongue.

"I…uh…er…Kaoru-dono…" Kaoru gently laid her hand on his lips, much like Megumi had.

"Don't worry Kenshin." Kaoru patted his cheek then absently raise his shirt back up on his shoulders. Kenshin blushed when he realized he had forgot about that. Kaoru just continued smiled and then hugged him fiercely. Kenshin stepped back to catch his balance, feeling his face get red for yet another time that day.

"Uh, Kaoru-dono… I think I can see Yahiko and the others waving to us." Kaoru reluctantly released him and looked over his shoulder. Yahiko, Sano, and Megumi were walking over to them, shouting to get a move on and that they were hungry. Kaoru and Kenshin laughed and they walked over to them.

On the walk to the Akabeko, Megumi was scolding Sano and Yahiko, who were boasting and arguing about nonsense. Kaoru and Kenshin walked silently behind them. Kaoru was deep in thought, _what are Kenshin's feelings? One minute he acts like he loves Megumi then the next…why do I bother? Kenshin was just being polite. The real question is 'What are_ my_ feelings?'_ As Kaoru pondered, Kenshin walked up close to her and then slid his arm through hers. Kaoru jumped and looked up at Kenshin's smiling face. Kaoru whole-heartedly returned the smile. _I guess no matter how what goes on between Kenshin and Megumi…my heart can never be changed._

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"Now _this_ is good food!" Sano exclaimed, shoving another spoonful of beef soup into his mouth. Kaoru glared at him from across the table.

"What is _that_ supposed to mean Sano?"

Yahiko swallowed and answered for him, "He means that he's grateful that he gets to eat some edible food instead of the pig slop you call food." Kaoru raised her hands to wrap around his throat, but Kenshin stopped her by gently laying his hand on hers.

"Well," Kaoru said, "Kenshin likes my cooking, don't you Kenshin?"

Kenshin abruptly coughed and turned away from her. "I must have choked on some carrots," he said, coughing. Kaoru glared at Kenshin as the rest of the table burst out laughing. A sudden crash made the whole restaurant go deathly quiet. There was lots of yelling and crashing coming from the kitchen. Kenshin stood and gripped the hilt of sword. Kaoru jumped up right next to him, as did the other three.

Kenshin and the others slowly made their way to the kitchen. Quietly, Kenshin eased open the door and peered in. It was a very unusual sight, which made everyone stare in confusion.

A large group of waitresses crouched behind the counters, looks of terror on their faces. Everyone's attention was drawn to the center of the room, where two women stood. One appeared to be the head waitress of the Akabeko; the other was a young girl, who appeared to be a year or two younger than Kaoru. The waitress was holding up a kimono that all the waitresses wore and giving the young girl a hard look. The girl stared up defiantly at her, her arms crossed across her chest.

The waitress was shouting, "…. want a job here, you have to wear the kimono!" The girl shook her head, and her green eyes were like emerald flames.

"There is NO way I'm wearing a dress!"

The waitress shook her head sadly and replied, "Girls are supposed to wear dresses! If you don't wear them, what _do _you wear?" The girl scolded and pulled back her long cloak. Kaoru and Megumi gasped. The girl was wearing _boy's_ clothes! She wore a forest green shirt and what Kaoru guessed where once a pair of white pants, but a had a brownish look to them. Kaoru cocked her head as the girl quickly covered herself again.

Leaning her head closer to Kenshin's, Kaoru whispered, "Kenshin? Did you see the sword at her waist?" Kenshin nodded and his grip loosened on his sword hilt. "Kenshin…you don't think she'd…_use_ it on them, do you?"

Kenshin shook his head and smiled slightly. "No Kaoru-dono. Not over what they're fighting over." Yahiko suddenly yanked on Kaoru's obi.

"Move it ugly! I wanna see!" At the same time, Sano grabbed Kenshin's ponytail and yanked him back, causing him to land with a 'thunk' on the hard floor.

"Oro!"

"Shut up Kenshin! I want to see the cat fight too!" Kaoru bent down to help Kenshin up and Megumi suddenly had a large pan in her hand. Sano held his hands up, "Come on fox…what are you going to do with that pan?" Megumi raised it threateningly.

"You're about to find out rooster head." Of course, all the noise that they made attracted the attention of the people in the kitchen. Yahiko backed up, tripping over Kenshin in the process, and landed on Kaoru.

"Yahiko!"

"Oro!"

"Hey ugly!"

"Help Kenshin!"

"Come here rooster head!" The room was filled with the fives' yells. The waitresses rushed over to help. The separated Megumi and Sano, and helped the other three to their feet. Kaoru noticed the girl in the kitchen started to move to the door.

"Wait! Don't go! I want to talk to you!" The girl froze and turned back to Kaoru.

"What?" She said, flinging some of her waist long hair over her shoulder. Kaoru grinded her teeth at the girl's rudeness, but she was desperate to find out more about her.

"I noticed you seemed to be looking for a job…I have one you might be interested in."

The girl's eyes narrowed and she asked, "What kind of job would that be?" Kaoru forced a smile on her face.

"I notice you wore a sword. I run a dojo and was wondering if you wanted a job there."

The girl continued to look at her suspiciously. "Do I have to wear a kimono?"

Kaoru shook her and replied, "Nope."

A small smile appeared on the girl's face. "Sure, I'll take it." Kaoru smiled and extended her hand.

"My name is Kamiya Kaoru. What's yours?"

The girl thought for a moment, seeming to debate telling her or not. Finally she reached out and took her hand, "My name is Katana."_

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Thank you all so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Big hugs to all those who reviewed! We really like to see what you guys think so keep those reviews coming! E-mails are also welcome_


	3. Chapter 3

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Till Death Do Us Part**

Part Three (by baka)

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The burning yellow sun hung in the air, casting its heat waves upon the village. A hot burst of wind suddenly picked up, and it blew through Tokyo, stirring up dust on the road. Katana sneezed and stared miserably at her loud, complaining stomach.

Katana scolded and gave her stomach a good whack, then said to her self, O_h shut up stomach! I know you're hungry. _She suddenly sniffled loudly, taking in the delicious smell. W_here is that great smell coming from? _The smell only made her stomach rumble louder. She snarled quietly, and then quickly followed her nose to a seemingly nice couples booth.

"Can I help you young miss?" the woman at the counter asked with a smile.

"Uh, yeah. Could I have some rice and chicken please?" Katana asked in return. She knew if she didn't control herself, she would have been drooling. It had been too long since she had tasted hot, freshly cooked food.

The lady looked at her curiously then asked, "Miss? I mean no disrespect but…do you have money? You do have to pay, you know."

_No disrespect sure old hag! Like I would ask for food with no money. Ga, I'm not a complete... _Katana pulled out both her pockets while the lady in the booth frowned. "Uh how about three acorns?" Katana winced as the lady slammed her booth doors and her husband hung a sign that said CLOSED.

"Stupid people, stupid town," Katana mumbled to herself. She stared coldly at the closed booth before shoving her hands into her pockets and cursing. The few people that were around her stared before hastily walking on. Another wonderful smell took over Katana's nose. With nothing better to do, she followed it, her dumb stomach complaining loudly all the way.

**Help Wanted!** Now _that_ was a sign Katana liked to see at a restaurant! It seemed her luck had changed. Katana walked straight in and asked the first person she saw.

"Um excuse me miss? Do you still have a job open?"

"Why yes child, we do. Do you want it? If you do, come into the kitchen with me." The plump waitress said, giving her a wide grin. Already Katana knew that her luck had just flip-flopped to bad again. First of all she hated, _hated_, it when people called her child, and second was she was irritated by the woman's idiocy: of course she wanted the job! That was why she was had asked for it! Ga, people could be so stupid. Oh well, can't eat without money and can't get money without working. So she quietly walked with the waitress to the kitchen.

"Thank goodness you've come along!" The waitress was yapping, " I was worried no one would ever come for that job. Now lets see…have you ever been a waitress before?" Katana silently shook her head. "No? Well don't worry, its not that hard; I can have one of the other girls give you some pointers." _Oh joy,_ Katana thought to herself,_ this one is probably a gossiper; I bet she will never shut up. "_Now let me see you girl, turn around. Tiny aren't you? Well let me see if I can find that one... AH Ha! Here it is." The waitress said holding up a kimono. "Now come on girl I don't have all day! Try it on."

"Hey, hey wait! I agreed to a job, not a dress." Katana said, firmly eyeing the dress in horror. She hadn't worn one in what? Eight years?

"Now don't be silly girl! This is what the waitresses _must_ wear."

"Well I'm not wearing one." Katana answered defiantly, "I wouldn't wear one even if my life depended on it!"

"You will if you are going to work at this restaurant. Now come on, don't make such a fuss." After those words were out of the waitress's mouth Katana could tell she didn't plan on giving in.

"No!" Katana yelled and right when she did another waitress, arms full of dishes, jumped, dropping everything, and causing a loud crash.

"You _will_ wear one! All girls wear dresses! What do you have under that coat?"

"Not a stupid dress, I can tell you that!" And Katana pulled back her long coat to reveal her dirt-covered pant, a boy's shirt, and her swords. After seeing her swords the waitresses in the kitchen gasped.

"Damn it," Katana mumbled under her breath. _That was stupid, _she cursed herself,_ now they'll think I'm a murderer or something._

Before anyone could say anything else they her people yelling in the doorway. All Katana could make out was a bunch of people in a fight yelling "Rooster Head", "Jouchan", "Help Kenshin", "Move Sano", "Yahiko" and the rest was lost in all of the commotion.

Forgetting her earlier embarrassment, Katana scooted over to the waitress she had been fighting with and asked, "Who are these idiots?" But before she got her answer she thought it would be better if she left, so she silently moved towards the door.

Then a woman in all the fuss yelled, "Wait! Don't go! I want to talk to you!"

_Great, I just wanted food and now look at the mess I'm in, _Katana thought and whirled around to face her. The girl was really pretty: she had sparking blue eyes; long, black hair, and - to her disgust - a maroon kimono on. "What?" she hadn't meant for it to sound that rude but it had anyway. Who could blame her after what she had been through?

The girl's mouth thinned, obviously annoyed at her rude response, "I noticed you seemed to be looking for a job... I have one you might be interested in." She forced a smile on her face.

"What kind of job is it?" Katana asked bluntly, looking at her suspiciously.

"I noticed you wore a sword… I happen to run a dojo and was wondering if you wanted a job there." _Her? Running a dojo…? _The thought made Katana laugh. _She doesn't look smart enough. But a dojo... I could use some practice... _

"Do I have to wear a kimono?"

"Nope" the lady replied, this time, her smile natural.

Katana couldn't help but laugh at herself. _My luck has turned again! These people may be rather…odd, but I've found a suitable job and it doesn't require me to wear a kimono! _"Thanks. I'll take it."

"My name is Kamiya Kaoru. What's yours?" It took a minute for Katana to answer because she wasn't so sure if she trusted this Kaoru person or not. She seemed nice but...

"My name is Katana."

* * *

The walk to Kaoru's dojo was taking forever to Katana, but since no one else seemed to be complaining about it, she kept her mouth firmly shut. The short little boy named Yahiko was strolling beside her, hands behind his head. Katana turned to him, feeling a sudden need to strike up a conversation. 

"Do you mind telling me who everyone is?" She was never good at starting conversations; heck, she wasn't good at talking to people period! Her questions, or anything for that matter, always tended to be blunt and catch people by surprise. Obviously the same was for this one, because Yahiko literally jumped.

"Me? Oh…see the really tall one in the white shirt?"

"The one with the aku on his back?"

"Yea, that's the one! Well, his name is Sano. We all call him rooster head." Katana blinked. Rooster head? She thought it was an odd name, but it fit his odd hair, so she didn't argue.

"See the one in the purple shirt? That's Megumi, the doctor. Her nickname is fox or vixen, but only Sano calls her that. You already met ugly—I mean raccoon girl, oh! I mean Kaoru." Katana laughed. What weird nicknames—but at least they were easy to remember. She quickly reviewed them in her head: rooster head with the aku, the fox lady doctor, and the ugly raccoon.

Yahiko smiled broadly up at her then continued, "And last, but certainly not least is Kenshin. He doesn't have a nickname I think…anyway, he's the best swordsmen ever! Nobody can beat Kenshin!" Katana's mirth suddenly melted away, leaving her usual serious shell. S_o his name is Kenshin, _She thought, giving his sword a quick glance. _And Yahiko here says he's pretty good with his blade…it's been awhile since I've had a decent match…maybe I'll have a go with him…I wonder if he's as good as he sounds._

"So Yahiko," Katana began, stretching her arms behind her, "what's your nickname? Squirt? Shrimp? Little dude?" The fact was quite clear: the dude was short. She hadn't meant to be mean or insult him, but obviously she had, because Yahiko abruptly lunged at her furiously, trying to whack (or bite?) her head. It was almost too easy: the kid was s-l-o-w! Almost as a reflex, she grasped his arm and twisted it effortlessly behind his head.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you," she spoke firmly, the mirth gone from her voice. It took her a moment to realize that she might be hurting him, and quickly released him. It was then she noticed everyone else's eyes were latched onto her. A little color bloomed in her cheeks at their awkward looks. _Great,_ Katana thought,_ I am probably going to get a lecture now. I always seem to get myself into trouble. When will I learn to think before I move?_

Yahiko, his mouth stretched into a painfully wide smile, abruptly broke the silence. "Wow! That was awesome! Where did you learn that? You _have_ to teach me how to do that! Please, pleeeease!" Katana stared at him. She had never known anyone to ask her to teach them how she had punished them.

Kaoru smiled and added, "Yea, Katana. That's a real neat trick! You'll have to teach me, too." Blushing slightly, she quickly added, "If you don't mind."

Katana smiled; maybe this won't be so bad. Sano had started teasing Yahiko about being beat by a girl, _I will have to show him that he can be just as easily beat, _Katana thought, but Sano's comment had started Megumi and Kaoru arguing with him about how girls were just as good as guys. Katana could only smile bigger; those people might be mental but they sure were fun. Her smile slipped a bit at her unsettlement of Kenshin staring at her. It wasn't a normal stare; he looked at her as if she were something dangerous and should be kept in a cage. She shivered as she thought that maybe he knew about her past. As soon as that thought crossed over her mind, the smile slipped completely, replace by a thin line. _There's no way,_ she told herself firmly_, no one—especially him!—knows about me!_

The tense moment passed, however, when Kenshin began laughing with the rest of the group. Katana could tell it was a somewhat forced laugh. She hastily put on her fake smile and laughed dryly with the rest of them. On the outside, she was all smiles and mirth, but deep inside her sat the thought that Kenshin somehow knew—and it sent unwelcome shivers down her spine.

* * *

_Hello again wonderful readers! Hope you enjoyed this part! I know you all are wondering when sojiro will come in, but we promise it will be soon! First we need for katana to "settle in" with kenshin and his pals (it wont take as long as it sounds) until then, take the time and enjoy getting to know katana (ha) before sojiro makes his grand entrance! Anywho, thanks to all those who reviewed (hint hint)_


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Part Four (by shinsei)

* * *

Katana closed her eyes and struggled to keep her breathing slow and even. Her sweaty palm tightened on her sword hilt as she raised it up level with her head. The calm was abruptly broken when she lunged, slashing her blade at the air; switching from one stance to another, faster than the eye could see. Without pausing in her slashing, she reached over with her left hand and pulled her other sword out of its sheath, then began slashing with the same ferocity as her right hand. Abruptly, she whirled around and threw both swords at the door. The dull 'thunk' heard from each sword was in perfect unison, as was the yelp from outside the partially opened door. Katana stalked over to the door, yanked out her weapons, then kicked the door the rest of the way open then-blinked. Yahiko sat staring up at her with a startled look on his face. She shook her head and gave him a half smile.

"Yahiko? What are you doing?" Yahiko gave a start. Did he think she wasn't going to ask him that?

"I, uh, came here to practice and you were, uh, here, so I, er…watched you," He answered shakily. An uneasy, lopsided smile slowly popped onto his face. Katana couldn't help laughing at him.

"Why are you so scared-" Abruptly Yahiko jumped to his feet, cutting her off in a fury.

"Hey! I'm not scared! Why would I be scared of an ugly…" he stared at her, as if seeing her for the first time. She thought she heard him mumble under his breath, "Well she's not ugly like raccoon girl. She actually kinda pretty." She saw the red bloom into his cheeks as he avoided her eyes.

"Look Yahiko," she said, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. "If you want to practice in here, I'm not stopping you. There's more than enough room for both of us." Sheathing her blades, she stood aside to let Yahiko in. Keeping his eyes firmly to the ground, he sauntered past her. She casually followed him, sliding the door shut behind her.

"Yahiko," Katana started, trying to strike up another conversation, "you really love sword fighting, right? Do you want to be some kind of hitokiri or something…"

He finally lifted his eyes to meet her own, and in doing so, gave her the oddest look. "Hitokiri? No! Don't you know the revolution is long over…it's a time for peace. I want to use the sword to protect the innocent and use it only for good!" Katana snorted and gave him an amusing look.

"What, do you want to be some kind of super hero? Do you plan to save Japan or something?" She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"No," he answered curtly. "I want to be like Kenshin," suddenly his eyes took on a light of admiration and awe. "Kenshin fought in the revolution, ya know. But he decided to try to redeem himself and make up for all the lives he took and became a rurouni. He only uses his sword to protect." Yahiko smiled at her and thrust his thumb against his chest. "That's what I wanna be."

Katana smiled, and it actually reached her usually ice-cold eyes. She glided over to Yahiko and gently planted a kiss on his forehead. "No matter what you do, make sure you put your whole heart into it okay? That way, you'll never lose." With that, she whirled around and ambled gracefully to the door, leaving Yahiko in a stunned silence, hand clutched to his cheek, face burning.

* * *

Kenshin sighed as he rolled down his sleeves. It was almost time for lunch-and he was starving. He'd better hurry to help Kaoru-dono with the cooking, if anybody wanted anything edible for lunch. Suddenly Yahiko walked by-if that's what you'd call it. He sort of swayed, like he was a drunk. He'd been acting strange like that all morning and Kenshin couldn't fathom why. _Well, I'll have to find out why later,_ he thought to himself, _I'd better take this laundry inside and help Kaoru-dono with lunch._ Kenshin picked up the wooden basket that held the newly folded clothes. 

On his way passed the front gate, he noticed a messenger was coming up towards the dojo. Sano was just coming by him, so Kenshin took the opportunity to shove the basket into his hands.

"Take that inside please Sano," he stated shortly, and then left Sano stuttering with his arms full.

"Are you Himura Kenshin by any chance?" The messenger asked when he reached the gate. Kenshin smiled and nodded. "This is for you then," the young man said, holding out a wrinkled and yellow-colored letter.

"Uh… do you have any idea where this is from?" Kenshin asked, staring dumbstruck at the letter in his hands. The sweating messenger shrugged and turned around.

"I'm sorry Himura-san, I don't know." With that, he jogged off down the road. Staring puzzled at the letter, Kenshin carefully broke the wax seal and took the note out. He skimmed the page and smiled. _It's from Sojiro!_ He thought happily. _He's coming to visit for a while in…two weeks…but the date is from week ago…that means it's only a week until he comes! _Kenshin carefully read the last bit of the letter.

"'Don't tell the others; I'm not entirely sure about me being able to stay, so please don't get their hopes up'," Kenshin murmured. Shrugging, he carefully refolded the note and placed it in his pocket. Sniffing Kenshin realized something was burning. _Oh no! I forgot about lunch!_ In a panic, he ran off to the kitchen to find Kaoru and hopefully save what was left of lunch.

* * *

Katana rubbed her hands together and looked at the food in front of her. It wasn't much, but she hadn't had _anything_ to eat since the rather…unpleasant happening at the Akabeko. Once everyone was seated together with his or her food, Katana picked a delicious looking riceball and took a huge bite. The taste that came to her was not at all the wonderfully delicious taste she had been expecting, but more like she had taken a bite out of a moldy piece of parchment. 

In unison, the group reached for their cups and drank deeply.

"Kenshin!" Sano said in an accusing voice, "how could you let Jouchan cook our food by herself!"

"Yea," Yahiko put in, "Haven't you learned we're better off eating old dog poop that this stuff!" The very thought of eating dog poop was enough to churn Katana stomach. Looking over, she saw Kaoru had her hands around Sano's neck and was viciously shaking it, despite his choked protests. Yahiko started laughing, but was quickly cut off when Kaoru gave him an ice-cold stare that just screamed,_ you're next punk!_ Kenshin quickly rushed over and hastily separated them.

"Hows about we go to the Akabeko for dinner?" Sano managed to choke out hoarsely, rubbing his soar neck.

Everyone was starting to shake their heads in agreement, when Katana, unable to control herself, shouted, "NO!" The others turned to her and blinked in surprise.

"Uh…Oh!" Megumi suddenly clapped her hands together. "I know! You don't want to go back to the Akabeko because of what happened right?" Extremely embarrassed and red-faced, Katana could only nod. "I knew it! ….Ken-san! Looks like you're cooking dinner." Pausing for a moment she flashed Kenshin a sly smile, "Maybe I'll go in and help you." With a wink and Kenshin, Megumi pushed herself up and walked off towards the dojo. Right on her heals were everybody but Kenshin and Kaoru.

_That wench!_ Kaoru thought darkly._ She doesn't have to rub in the fact that I can't cook!_ Kaoru jumped at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder.

"Uh…Kaoru-dono? Is something wrong?" Kenshin asked, concern filling his voice. Ga! The man _was_ clueless!

"Nothing," Kaoru said dryly, brushing his hand lightly off her shoulder before stalking off to the dojo, leaving a very confused Kenshin to do the dishes.

* * *

The sun was dipped low behind the hills, turning the sky a pinkish-red. Katana sighed as she sat on the roof of the Kamaya dojo, staring at the sunset before her. At the sound of approaching sandals, her hand flew immediately to her sword hilt before realizing it was just Kenshin. 

"Katana-chan? What are you doing up here?" Katana flashed him a sidelong glance.

"I could ask you the same thing Kenshin." Kenshin smiled and sat down beside her. A long silence stretched between them.

"Katana-chan," Kenshin started, turning to look at her, his tone serious, "There was something I noticed about you when we first met. This may sound odd, but your eyes…they're always so cold. What I mean to say is…is there something bothering you? I can tell by your eyes that you're in pain…is there anything I can do to help you?"

Katana's eyes widened in shock and she hastily turned away from him, her breath caught in her thought. _Is it possible that he knows…?_ She remembered when they were all walking home the other day; she had suspected Kenshin did know about her past. Now that she was positive he didn't know, there was no reason to think about it anymore. But still…

"Did something in your past cause you to become a swordman?" Kenshin asked abruptly, causing Katana to jump.

"Um…." The urge to tell someone about her past had always nagged at the back of her mind. She silently cursed herself for even _thinking_ she could tell somebody. But…Kenshin seemed so trustworthy, and seemed to really care about her. Strangely enough, he reminded her so much of her older brother, giving her an odd feeling of trust around him. Plus, she'd _have_ to tell somebody sometime. "Kenshin," she turned to him, her eyes wide, "promise me you'll never tell anyone this ok?"

Kenshin blinked in surprise but nodded and spoke, "I swear I won't tell a single soul Katana-chan."

Katana shook her head, "First of all, my name's not Katana. I just chose that name for myself when I became a swordsman. My real name is Amaya." She paused for a startled reaction or some kind of outburst, but it never came. She quickly continued, "When I was little… eight years old, my family was killed. We lived in a quiet village; my father was a farmer. I had an older brother named Taro and my baby sister's name was Sayuri. Anyway, I had gone out to play in the hills and forests near our village. I came back because it was almost lunchtime. I went in the back door and found that nobody was inside. I heard my father's voice, so I ran to the front of the house, slid the door open and found them. My father, mother, Sayuri, and…"she couldn't bring herself to say their names, "..and two swordsmen were near the center of the village, arguing. Suddenly, one of the men ordered the other to kill my father and he did! Then the first man whipped out his sword and killed…killed my mother…" she trailed off, screaming silently at herself not to cry.

"…Did he…kill Sayuri?" Kenshin asked, concern filling his face.

Katana nodded, trying to get a hold of her emotions before continuing. "My brother Taro grabbed and pulled me inside. He took grandfather's swords," she patted the two hilts at her waist, "and we ran out toward the woods. But then we realized the man who had killed my father was following us. We ran and ran…then we were falling…we landed in the river…Taro…Taro had arrows in his back. I looked up and there was the boy…_smiling_," Katana balled her hands in fists and lowered her head.

"Katana-chan…." Kenshin's voice oozed with worry.

"Don't you see Kenshin?" Katana asked, raising her head. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. Her voice shook with anger, "I became a sword fighter to avenge my family! They were slaughtered by that smiling demon! They…I have to…" Suddenly her voice broke and the tears came; tears that hadn't been shed in years. She flung herself against Kenshin, sobbing on his shoulder.

Kenshin was quite taken aback at first, but then he carefully put his arms around her, soothing her as best as he could. The sun had sunk all the way down, and the only light that shown down on the dojo was from the full moon that was halfway up in the sky. Kenshin stared up at the deep, dark sky as he sat with Katana - _Amaya,_ he corrected himself hastily.

To Kenshin it seemed like Amaya was just like him. Someone who became a sword fighter to fight back the only way they knew how, the only way they were shown. The fact that shocked him the most was that he had forgotten how the world was not as safe as the dojo his life seemed to revolve around. _How could anyone kill an entire family?_ Kenshin wondered to himself. _Amaya was just a child and yet she had to grow up so fast and so young. She'd been on her own for who knew how long. Watching her family die was enough to turn the purest of hearts but growing up with all of the hatred could turn it to stone._

Then and there Kenshin made a promise to her silently that he would help her, save her from the path of revenge before it was to late to come back, before she had to live the rest of her life regretting living even more. He realized that Amaya's breathing had slowed and he slowly lifted her up and started off the roof. After he'd laid her in bed he himself tried to go to sleep, but it was a restless night because he kept on dreaming of a little girl on a farm watching her world fall apart.

* * *

"Good morning Ken-san!" Megumi greeted, handing Kenshin his breakfast. "Oh my! You look tired! Couldn't sleep?" Before Kenshin could answer, Sano came up, demanding seconds, which seemed to make Megumi furious. Sighing, Kenshin sat down and humbly ate the (thankfully edible) food.

* * *

Katana yawned and stretched out on the futon. Light shone in through the windows and birds chirped happily outside, making her aching head pound harder. Irritated at her throbbing headache, Katana thrust the pillow over her head, blocking out the light and chirping, and futilely attempted to go back to sleep. 

After lying in that extremely uncomfortable position for quite some time, Katana reluctantly pushed herself up and got dressed. When she slid open the door, all kinds of unwanted noise greeted her ears and the bright sunlight nearly blinded her.

_What a perfect start for my first chore-filled day_, she thought sarcastically, stepping out of her room. She decided to make it her mission to avoid Kaoru and the others for the entire day.

* * *

_Greeting again wonderful readers! We know, another non-sojiro part...but cross our hearts next chapter will be all about sojiro! We hoped you liked this part...sorry if yahiko was a little ooc. but think, if some pretty girl came up to you (this only works for boys) and kissed you (even if only on the forehead) wouldn't you be a little...fond of them too? its just a little boy crush...don't worry. we're all for yahiko-tsubame coupling, so please dont murder us...no sojiro if you do! thanks again for all you wonderful people who take the time to review...we take the reviews very seriously. we really love seeing what yall think, so please keep them coming!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello loyal readers! Shinsei and Baka here! (who else?) We'd like to introduce...the chapter you've all been waiting for...SOJIRO'S CHAPPIE! yee-haw! woo-hoo! and so on and so forth. Sorry sojiro fans out there...dont kill us when you read this. yes, we have a sick sense of humor...and this is perfect proof of that. Now what are you waiting for! Read away and enjoy the sou-chan goodness!_

* * *

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Part Five (by baka)

* * *

Sojiro sighed as he opened the door to the room he had been staying in for the past few days. As he slid the door closed, a sharp pain zipped through his foot.

"Owww!" he exclaimed, and glanced down at his foot. Of course he couldn't see anything, but he guessed it was a thorn. _And a big one at that,_ he thought grumpily. _It went through my whole sandal!_ Sojiro sighed again and ran a hand though his wispy dark brown hair. He kicked off his sandal and lifted his foot so he could inspect the damage. He wasn't too talented at balancing on one foot, let alone balancing while trying to look for a thorn. Of course he lost his balance, sending him tumbling _through_ the wall.

SPLASH!

Sojiro shook his head and stood shakily to his feet. Screams could be heard all around him. He opened his eyes, and then hastily closed them again. He had fallen into the girls' bath!

"Ah! Daddy there's a boy in here!"

"Someone! Help! There's a pervert in here!"

"Oh gosh! I am so sorry I didn't mean to... Oh excuse me. I'm sorry" Sojiro repeated as he tried to find the way out with closed eyes. He suddenly ran into something hard and warm. Opening his eyes a pinch, he realized he'd run into the huge, muscular innkeeper.

"What! _You're_ the little pervert! I allow you in to my Inn and then you attack my daughters while they're bathing!" The man roared at the top of his lungs.

"Oh I didn't mean to. You see I had a thorn..." Sojiro said, trying to explain, but was cut off.

"Kia, Omaro, Tano get in here! There's a guy attacking your sisters!" The innkeeper screamed and three equally as muscular men charged into the room.

"Get 'em!" They screamed in unison, as Sojiro ran back into his room for his belongings. The men were right on his tail, following closer than comfortable as Sojiro sprinted down the single dirt road.

_Gosh I just got a stupid thorn, I didn't mean to. Oh gosh what are those? _Sojiro thought, looking over his shoulder. Something sharp glistened menacingly in the light from the torches being held by the men. It took a moment for him to realize they were pitchforks.

Once the other townspeople heard the news of what had happened to the innkeeper's daughter and her friends, (which grew worse each time it was spoken) they grabbed whatever weapons they could and joined in on the mob chasing Sojiro, which grew as he continued to go through the town.

_Ga! Don't these people ever give up? The town has to be what, 5 miles back and I have been running the entire time,_ Sojiro thought as he struggled forward, afraid of what would happen if so many people caught up with him. About 30 minutes later Sojiro left the road and began going cross-country, and only then did the angry mob of people give up.

_Finally, _Sojiro thought. _Now I can get that thorn out of my foot. I thought they'd never give up. Well at least that's over with, now I can re..._ Sojiro's thoughts were interrupted when he heard dogs barking behind him.

"Get outta here! This is my land! Get 'em boys!" A farmer screamed and three devilish dogs began charging at Sojiro.

"Look I didn't mean any harm. I'll leave. You can call off the dogs. CALL OFF THE DOGS! AAAAHHH!" Sojiro screamed as he realized that the dogs were out for flesh. He began running again, this time faster, but he was barely able to stay in front of the dogs. They kept biting at his heals as he ran. _Out of one mess and into another…this has been a great day, _Sojiro thought sarcastically during his run.

The dogs finally stopped when Sojiro reached a forest; they just turned around and walked the other way as if the were no longer devils. _A nice walk in the forest…only trees, no people, no dogs, no problems _Sojiro thought to himself.

Sojiro had been walking for about an hour, trying to pick his way through the now pitch black woodlands, when he heard a strange cracking sound. He turned around to see an old tree begin to fall and, in total shock, didn't try to avoid it until too late. The world blinked out to blackness before his eyes.

* * *

When he ventured back into consciousness, a weird sound reached his ears. He blinked his eyes open slowly, adjusting them to the mid-morning sunlight. _Have I been here all night? _He wondered. Suddenly he became aware of a large group of about 20 squirrels around him. The squirrels chittered amongst themselves for a minute, then they began to approach him slowly, like a wolf approaches its injured prey.

"Nice squirrels. Nice squirrels. Go find some acorns." Sojiro said before realizing the ground when he lay was covered with perfect golden brown acorns. "Ok squirrels, I don't want the acorns! You can take them and go!" Sojiro exclaimed in a failed attempt to send them on their way.

And then they attacked.

The first one began biting his head, the second his arm, and then there was so many biting him he couldn't tell where the bites were coming from. "OWWW! GET OFF ME! GO AWAY! LEAVE! BOOO!" Sojiro screamed, attempting to scare them away.

When they finally stopped, Sojiro realized he had yet another problem, "Oh yes a nice walk in the woods with no people. Yes that's great, but who's going to get me unpinned!" He squirmed and twisted for two hours, but finally managed to escape with minor injuries.

Sojiro began walking, jumping every time he thought he heard a squirrel. When he came upon a bees' nest, he was careful and quiet so he wouldn't disturb it. He began to tiptoe around it when he heard the bees coming at him. Naturally, he ran. That's when he ran right into another bees' nest face first.

"Oww! Not again! Oww! Stop! AAHHHH!" Sojiro hollered while futilely trying to swat the bees away. He began running again in hopes that when he got far enough away from the original nest, they would let off, which they eventually did.

Sojiro sat down quietly on the road trying not to irritate his bee stings or move in a way so that they hurt, which was rather impossible because over half his body was covered with them. He finally decided that the best thing he could do was go to another town and get an Inn where he could take a nice bath, and then maybe find out which way it was to Kenshin's. Maybe—just maybe!—his bad luck would let off there.

Sojiro finally made it to a town and he decided that the first thing he should do was eat.

"Sir... What will you have?" A plump little waitress asked, eyeing him as if he were the black plague.

"I'll have chicken and rice." Sojiro replied simply. And when his meal, arrived he ate it as if he hadn't eaten in days. He even ordered a second course.

"Sir, here is your bill." The waitress said when he was finished.

"Wow. Little more than I bargained for, but I can cover it…lets see, where's my wallet..." Sojiro said, searching his pockets. After turning out all of his pockets, an odd thought came to his mind; he pictured 20 squirrels sitting on a tree counting money in a brown worn wallet…_his_ brown worn wallet.

"Uh…if you'll just excuse me...it must be in my other clothes. I'll go get it," Sojiro mumbled hastily as he tried to weasel his way out the door.

"Oh no you don't!" The waitress growled, and she grabbed him by the ear and dragged him into the kitchen.

"Clean! All of those! You're going to have to work off for the money you owe us!" The waitress ordered in a, 'don't give me any crap' voice. Sojiro looked up and stared the mountain of dishes before him. There were so many that he lost count at 187.

* * *

Three hours later, Sojiro was halfway through with the dishes. His arms were burning because the soap was grating into his recent beestings. The waitress kept coming in, bringing in armful, after armful, after armful of dishes, and when she finished, she'd tripled the number of dishes there had been at first. After working all night and late into the next morning Sojiro finally finished the pile of dishes.

"Good, you've finished. You can leave now but don't come back here again, do you understand?" The waitress barked with half of her attention on him. Sojiro humbly nodded his head in reply and began walking again, this time toward the bright orange-yellow sun.

About half an hour down the road Sojiro was walking, he found himself wishing for a comfy futon and sleep, but he kept going down the road. An odd sound reached his ears then, like horses, but he was too tired to care about noise, let alone the fact he was walking in the middle of the road. Then Sojiro realized they were right behind him, but it was too late.

_SPLAT!_

And thus, Sojiro became the first human pancake. He was totally conscious, but couldn't move as the riders following in wagons and carts road over him as if he were just an annoying speed bump.

_Owww! _Sojiro thought to himself since had grown tired of saying it out loud, _That had to be what two wagons, three carts, and four horses. People really need to watch where they're going. _The groups' children had been lagging behind; torturing any animal they could find when they found Sojiro smashed against the road.

"What is it?" a little boy asked.

"I don't know. See if it's alive," answered a little girl. Then, as if just waiting for the signal, the six little kids armed themselves with sticks and began poking Sojiro harder and harder.

"I think it's dead." The oldest boy said, "Lets see if it has anything interesting."

"Go away!" Sojiro said trying to get to his feet.

"Ahhhhhhh! Mooooommmmmyyyyy!"

"It's a demon!"

"Daddy! Daddy save me!"

"What is it?" said one of the children's parents.

"Daddy he's mean. He scared me."

"What? He scared my little princess?" The father demanded, giving Sojiro a good kick. "No one scares my little princess. Hey Daichi, Goro, get over here; there's a guy messing with our kids."

"What?" the two men growled, "Get out of here" And they joined the other man in kicking the crap out of Sojiro.

"Look. Owww! I didn't mean... Owwwww! Will you stop! Owww! Ok I am leaving. Look I'm going." Sojiro cried as he began another day with running. _Oh great, yesterday I ran my butt off and today I run my butt off…geeze! I should run for a living. Lets see it…started with that Inn, then that mob of people, after that the demented dogs, then the tree, and the squirrels, _Sojiro recalled and began to shiver but not from the cold._ After the squirrels there were those bees, then the restaurant, now the human pancake and soccer ball. Geeze, what a great week. I hope I get to Kenshin's soon! I could use a good rest. Calm and relaxing vacation… yea, that'll do the trick. At least all this running has done some good; I am really close to Kenshin's! I wonder if he and that Kaoru girl have gotten married yet…they are the perfect match._

It was mid afternoon and Sojiro thought that his luck was improving so he decided to stop at a farm and ask for directions. He approached a small little house with flowers all over the front yard and there he saw a little girl playing next to a chicken coop.

"Excuse me. Little girl could you tell me which way it is to Kamiya Dojo?"

"Yes it's that way," the little girl said pointing her finger to the right, "In the next town."

"Thanks," Sojiro replied, truly grateful the girl's kindness. As he began to walk away, he stepped on something that crunched loudly. Looking down, he saw a squashed house made out of sticks and mud. "Oh I'm sorry! I didn't see your house," He tried to apologize, but realized it was to late because the little girl's lower lip began to quiver and she started towards the chicken coop.

"Get him!" Se screeched as she flung open the chicken coop gate and ten squawking chickens came at Sojiro.

"Hey I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. You might want to catch you chickens before they get away." He said, trying to see how he could make it up to the girl but she suddenly began to smirk. "Owwww!" and Sojiro began to run. _Geeze! It's the attack of the killer chickens._ "Go away! Shoo! Go home" Sojiro yelled as they kept pecking at the back of his shins. It was about a forth of a mile before Sojiro was able to ditch the killer chickens and he realized that now he might be able to reach Kenshin's by the end of that day.

Humming to himself, Sojiro began to cross a bridge when he saw the most adorable kitten he had ever seen. Its soft fur was ashy black and its deep green eyes were large and round and had a pleading look to them.

"Hello pretty little kitten," Sojiro encouraged, reaching out his hand to pet her. Just as his hand was about to land on its furry little head, the cute expression vanished, and it's tiny mouth opened wide, revealing sharp teeth that defied reality. The large fangs closed hard on Sojiro's descending hand.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH! LET GO!" Sojiro was trying to yank his hand out of the kitten's mouth, although he couldn't see half of it. When he finally did pry his hand out he heard a little girl.

"Whiskers! Come here Whiskers," She cried, calling to the man-eating cat to her. She looked over and saw her cat, again with the face like an angel, this time cowering away from Sojiro. Her big eyes where large and filled to the brink with tears.

"My kitten! You hurt my kitten!" The little girl screamed over and over again. She suddenly put one hand behind her back and pulled out a huge frying pan and began hitting Sojiro over the head.

"Owww! Owww! Oww! Stop! I wasn't hurting your cat! It bit me! Look at my hand! Oww! Ok! I'm going!" And again Sojiro began running, but this time so that he could escape the little murd... girl with a frying pan.

To try and escape any further bad luck, Sojiro didn't stop to talk to any one while he finished his journey to Kenshin's. He arrived there as the sun began to set.

"Ah, hello, I didn't expect you so soon. How are you? How was your journey?" Kenshin exclaimed, a large smile nearly cracking his face.

Sojiro wanted to say, _First, I was attacked by a mob of people, then demented dogs, trees, squirrels, bees, waitresses, wagons, horses, carts, chickens and finally that cute little kitten_, but all he said was, "Fine."

"I'm sure you remember Megumi, Kaoru, Yahiko, Sano. And this…this is Amaya-chan. I mean Katana," Kenshin said pointing to everyone. He of course remembered everyone, but the girl Katana caught his eye. She had long black hair and flashing green eyes. Her tanned skin and tattered looking clothes gave her a rough look. She looked vaguely familiar, though he couldn't quite put his finger on where he had seen her before.

Kenshin, continuing to smile, turned to the girl.

"Katana, this is Sojiro..."

* * *

_Ha ha ha! Do you like our cliffhanger? Ok, on with more important matters concerning this story. I know some of you may be a little disappointed at our version of sojiro. Our logic is, after Kenshin beat him, he became a ruruoni too (you should already know that) and in doing so, kinda became like kenshin. Thats whyhe seems so...ditzy. Well, that also has alot to do w/ Karma. You know it, the belief that "if you do good, good will be done to you" and it works for bad too. Obviously sojiro was NOT a perfect angel, so this chapter was just karma coming back to kick him in the butt! (put roughly) so very sorry if you don't like our new sojiro (despite the fact his ditziness makes him even more adorable). _

_Another hug and pat on the back to those people who review. WE LOVE YOU (in an author to reader kinda way). Pretty please review and tell us what you think--its very important to us. Just think: the more reviews we get, the faster we update. (seriously, if we get a bunch of reviews, it makes us feel totally awesome and inspired to write)_


	6. Chapter 6

_First off, thank you all for sharing your opinions of chapter 5, good and bad. Next, we'd like to apologize. We didn't mean to offend anybody when we made Sojiro how he was in chapter 5. It was just the bad karma catching up to him (ha). Seriously, we apologize for twisting such a wonderful character in such a horrible (yet amusing) way. Now, please put your grudges aside and enjoy chapter 6, with our (hopefully) much better sou-chan!_

* * *

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Chapter 6 (by shinsei)

* * *

Katana absently wiped the sweat off her forehead, clutching the container of tofu closer to her chest. The sun was already sitting low in the sky, and continued down on its path behind the mountains. Her stomach growled loudly, so she quickened her pace, realizing how light she felt. Before she had left, Kenshin had made her remove her swords to avoid the unwanted attention from the police.

_Why did I listen to him?_ She wondered. _And how am I gunna get him to stop calling me Amaya-chan? Everyone's already wondering why he calls me that. I really don't want to have to tell anyone else about my past._ Katana already mentally beat herself for telling Kenshin; if she told anyone else she might end up with brain damage. Glancing down the road, she saw the Kamiya dojo coming into view.

Seeing the door open, Katana peered in to find everyone standing off to the side, talking. Curious, she walked up and shoved her way between Kaoru and Sano to find Kenshin talking to a visitor. He was definitely travel worn; his clothes were tattered and torn and it looked like he could use another pair of sandals. His dark, windblown brown hair framed his tanned face, and his deep blue eyes shone brightly. He looked so familiar, but she found herself unable to put a name to his face. It was the sword at his waist, however, that really caught her eye. She was so intently studying him, it took her a moment to realize Kenshin was saying her name.

"…and this is Amaya-chan." Katana immediately swung her head to glare at him. Catching her eye, he quickly corrected himself, "I mean, Katana." Katana gave him a curt nod of approval before turning to smile at the stranger. Kenshin continued with the introduction, "Katana, this is Sojiro."

The wooden container clattered to the ground, spilling the tofu out on the dirt. Katana stared at the man before her; the flashbacks of the past flooding through her mind. Her mind screamed for her to run at him and strangle the life out of him, but her body was frozen to the spot.

"Uh…Katana?"

Snapping back to reality, Katana hastily tried to keep her voice from faltering. "Oh…the tofu…I-I'm so sorry Kaoru-san…I'll clean it up right….right away…" She forced a weak smile on her face with some effort. Before anyone could stop her, she ran off inside.

"I think something's wrong with her," Yahiko complained, genuine worry sitting in his eyes as he watched her go.

"Don't worry Romeo," Kaoru said in an exasperated voice, her eyes rolling.

"What do ya mean by that ugly?" Yahiko challenged, his face heating. Instantly, a fight broke out. Sojiro laughed weakly and Kenshin hurried to explain.

"Um…they do that a lot. You'll have to get used to that…"

* * *

The door flew open with a bang and Katana rushed in. Near her unmade futon lay her two swords, as well as a huge bag full of every weapon she could find. Hurrying over, Katana kneeled on the ground, breathing heavily.

_Sojiro…He's here! After all my years of relentless searching, you've come straight to me! _Katana mentally kicked herself for not recognizing him right away and for obeying Kenshin and leaving without her swords. She shoved her swords on her belt, then tossed open the bag, grabbing the contents as fast as she could. She grabbed two handfuls of kunai before thrusting them into the sheaths she had sewn into her sleeves.

Not sure what else she could use, she screamed at herself for being so ill prepared. Standing, she took a deep breath before hastily putting her hair up in a high ponytail. Katana turned quickly and strode quickly from her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

* * *

"It's getting late…have you eaten dinner yet Sojiro?" Kaoru asked, gently touching the large lump on her head, courtesy of Yahiko. Sojiro's head shot up from Yahiko, who he had been bandaging, and shook his head. "Well then—" Kaoru started, but was cut off by someone approaching. It took her a moment to realize who it was.

"Katana?" Sano said, cocking his head at her. "Where'd you get off to? The mess to clean is here," he pointed to the spilled tofu. Seeing she was ignoring him, he opened his mouth again but snapped it shut when Katana's icy glare turned on him.

"Sojiro!" she called, yanking out both her swords. "Prepare to die, you bastard!" With those words, Katana rushed at Sojiro, her swords raised for an attack.

Everyone flinched at the clang of medal that echoed loudly in the dry air. Katana blinked in surprise at the red haired man standing in front of her, his own sword blocking _both _of her own.

"Amaya! What do you think you're doing!" Kenshin's deep violet eyes stared at her accusingly.

Katana stared back at him defiantly, her eyes like raging storms. "Kenshin! If you get in my way, I won't spare you either!"

"What are you talking about! Why are you trying to kill Sojiro?"

"I'm getting my revenge! He was one of those damn men who slaughtered my family!" Everyone's eyes widened as they turned from Katana to Sojiro and back again.

"You mean Sojiro…and Shishio?" Katana nodded. Sighing heavily, Kenshin closed his eyes and raking his mind for some way to calm Katana's rage.

"I'm sorry…but I can't let you get in my way Kenshin," she whispered softly to him. Shocked, Kenshin's eyes flew open just in time to see her fist connect with his face. The force was stronger than he assumed and caught him completely off guard; it sent him slamming to the ground.

With Kenshin momentarily stunned, Katana rushed forward at Sojiro again, but this time he was ready. Whipping out his own sword, he quickly blocked her slash from the right, and barely managed to dodge the cut from the left. Her furious slashing only allowed him to dodge; not that he really wanted to fight this psycho. He knew there were plenty of people he had hurt in the past and probably wanted revenge, and she was the perfect example. His instincts screamed at him to attack, knowing he could finish her off quickly.

_No!_ He yelled at himself. _I swore I wouldn't kill anyone else! But I do need to stop this girl. I just need an opening to attack…and it'll have to be a few steps short of Shukuchi_…

Distracted by his thoughts, Sojiro didn't have time to block Katana's sword as it slashed against his left arm. He stumbled back a few steps, clutching his arm. Katana smiled as she watched the blood leak through his fingers and slide down his hand. Before he could completely recover, she ran at him again. By now, he was getting irritated at her and he felt a whirl of emotions swell in his stomach.

_Damn it_, he thought in frustration. The fight was stirring memories of the past, threatening to bring out the cold, emotionless killer within him. He watched Katana's movements as he blocked her attacks. Then, the moment he had been waiting for came; the slightest pause. Sojiro took the opportunity to begin his attack on her. She seemed surprised in the shift at first, but managed to block very well.

But not well enough.

His blade cut against her right hand, causing her to drop her sword. Caught off guard, Katana didn't manage to block a strong, and very unexpected, kick to the stomach. She flew backward and hit the ground hard, dropping her other sword in the process.

Sojiro suddenly dropped to his knees, clutching his bleeding arm tightly. The cut was shallow, but it seemed to control his body, ordering him to kill. His head pounded and Sojiro saw his vision double before him. With all his might, he held back the urge to go over and finish the girl. Instead, he prayed she would just stay down.

Sojiro suddenly jumped to the left, tumbling across the dirt. He looked over and saw a dagger sticking out of the wall behind where he had been kneeling. His instincts had managed to save his life this time, but looking over at Katana, he saw she had two full hand of them.

"Did you think that would finish me!" Katana demanded. Her right hand shook as the deep slash across it bled freely, and she struggled to remain calm. Sojiro noticed her breathing had grown heavier; obviously the fight was taking its toll. He jumped to his feet as Katana hurled a shower of daggers at him. He dodged most and used his sword to fend off more, but one managed to hit him directly in the thigh. His leg seemed to freeze up at the impact, causing Sojiro to fall back down to his knees.

Katana walked toward him menacingly, one more knife held in her hand. Gritting his teeth, Sojiro quickly yanked the dagger out of his leg and clutched it, the blood on its hilt seeping through his fingers and mingling with the blood already on his hand from the wound from his arm. Sojiro managed to climb on his unstable legs, pain shooting anew from the deep wound on his leg and shallow one on his arm.

In the blink of an eye, Katana hurled her last knife at him, its path leading straight for his chest. Almost effortlessly, Sojiro deflected the oncoming knife with the bloodstained one in his hand. Then, with the same amount of speed, he threw his dagger. Unprepared for his counter attack, Katana didn't try and dodge until it was too late. The kunai hit her right arm, sinking in deeply. Katana yanked the knife out with a slight whimper of pain. She glared over at Sojiro as the blood ran down her arm, quickly forming a puddle on the ground.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru managed to whimper out. "You have to stop them!"

Kenshin continued to watch the two fighters intently from the sidelines with the others. "There's nothing this one can do…they're in another world as they fight, blocking out all others around them."

Yahiko's hands formed tight, shaking balls at his sides. "Like the time with you and Saitou?" Kenshin nodded. "You mean there's nothing we can do!"

Kenshin could only nod his head. He wished to stop the two before him, but interfering could end in disaster. From the look in Katana's eyes, she didn't plan on giving in any time soon and Sojiro seemed equally as determined.

Katana launched herself at her opponent, bloody kunai gripped tightly in her hand. She slashed furiously at Sojiro, her mind blinded by hate. Sojiro could see she was close collapsing, but he also saw the hate-driven determination in her eyes. He knew the match had to be finished quickly before Katana's body couldn't handle the immense pressure she was putting on it. He could only hope to finish the match quickly, so he devised a plan in his head as he weaved around her attacks.

Without warning, Sojiro's fist swung out, hitting Katana straight-on in face. For the second time, she hit the ground. Katana jumped quickly back to her feet, wiping off the blood that dribbled down her chin from her nose. She prepared herself for another attack, but realized her opponent had disappeared. Hearing crunching dirt behind her, she quickly whirled around and lunged forward.

Katana coughed, blood splattering out. She stared down in surprise at the sword thrust into her gut. Just as suddenly, it was ripped out, and replaced by immense pain that threatened to swallow her whole. Sojiro gripped the bloody blade, a look of shock on his face. Obviously, he hadn't expected her to turn and run at him like she had.

Katana fell to her knees, and put her hands on her stomach. Looking down, she found them soaking with deep red blood. She thought she heard voices but couldn't comprehend what was being said. Looking up, she found herself surrounded by blurry, doubled images of people she found herself unable to recognize. The world around her slowly darkened and turned black before she ever felt herself meet the ground.

* * *

_Thanks for reading; hope you enjoyed. Now we have a very important favor to ask of you. Shinsei rewrote this entire chapter to try and improve Sojiro and make him more...himself. We'd grately appreciate it if you reviewed and told us if you like this Sojiro any better than the last chapter. Thank you so much and so sorry again!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello readers! Sorry it took so long to update. Laziness is such a horrible thing.../sigh/ anywho, we'd like to say thank you all who reviewed last time! Also, shinsei would like to say thanks for all thecomplements on the last part...we both appreciate the comments and opinions. Hope you enjoy--don't forget to review and tell us what you think!_

* * *

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Part 7 (by baka)

* * *

"Amaya! Amaya, help!"

Amaya was running so hard she couldn't breath. She didn't know where she was running to or where she was, but she ran. She had to reach her mother in time, but she knew that no matter how fast she ran, she wouldn't make it.

"I'm coming mommy! Hang on! I'm coming!" Amaya screamed. She finally reached her mother and right as she did she saw the flash of a sword blade. Everything seemed to have changed. Time became slow motion, slow torture. She saw her mother reach for her throat with one hand as she tightened her grip on Sayuri. She seemed to take forever as she fell towards the ground. Sayuri began to cry and Amaya once more saw the flash of a blade. After the flash there was complete silence, the kind that seems to tear you apart inside, the kind that drives you insane.

"Noooo! NOOOO!" Amaya screamed. She couldn't keep staring at her mother and little sister, their images seemed to be burned into her mind. She looked up to see a man wrapped completely in bandages staring at her and smiling. A smile that scares the bravest of men, a smile she always saw when she thought of her mother.

Someone grabbed Amaya's arm and they began to run. She knew where she was running and what was about to happen, but she couldn't stop running. She could never stop running.

She saw the boy above her and her brother, and before she could think, she was screaming "No Taro, Taro! No don't," but it was to late- the boy had already knocked his arrow. The boy shot and the arrow hit Taro.

"Noo! NOOO!" Amaya screamed at the boy, but the boy just smiled, a hideous smile worse than the other man. His smile soon turned into a horrific laugh.

And Amaya began to scream, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Katana woke up screaming, then sat up as soon as possible and looked around her. When she couldn't find a weapon she tackled a woman near her and began choking her.

"Katana! Katana wait stop!" The woman gasped.

It took a few seconds for Katana to actually realize what she was doing, and once she did her hand lost its strength and she was shaking.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry Megumi-san. I'm- I didn't- I'm sorry."

Megumi rubbed her throat and looked rather pissed, "I'm fine, but look at what you've done. You've ripped your stitches! You shouldn't even be standing. My god child, do you have a death wish or something?"

Katana looked down and realized that her clothes were soaked with fresh blood. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Honestly Katana, this is no time for jokes."

"Who's joking?" Katana asked as she brought her eyes to meet Megumi's. The two seemed to stare forever until Megumi couldn't handle Katana's fierce gaze any longer.

"Well lay back down before you completely ruin all of my work trying to keep you alive, will you?"

"I don't want to-" just then Katana's knees gave way and she began to fall forwards toward the floor, but Megumi caught her.

"My god child- you've lost enough blood already. Kaoru! Kaoru, where are you!"

"What Megumi? I thought you said she was rest- what is she doing up?" Kaoru exclaimed as she entered into the room.

"Don't just stand there, help me get her back into bed before she bleeds to death."

As they laid Katana down she tried to tell them that she was all right, but the world around her had begun the fog up, and then she was running again trying to reach something.

* * *

"Sojiro, you really should rest. You don't look to well you know," Kenshin said, staring at Sojiro, who was pacing endlessly around the room.

"You don't look too good yourself Kenshin" Sojiro said, looking up from the floor and staring straight at a large, swollen bruise on Kenshin's cheek.

"Well neither of you look to good and I suggest that you both rest and give me some peace." Sano said, seemingly relaxed leaning against the wall.

"I think I'll go take a walk," Sojiro said heading for the door.

"Seeing her," Kenshin said, reaching for Sojiro to stop him, "won't make you feel any better, and you should probably leave Megumi-san and Kaoru-dono alone while they work."

"Yeah that's all we need, two more pissed off chicks." Sano said.

"Sano-" Kenshin gave him a warning so he would stop.

"I'm just going for a walk. I can't just sit here. I'm going to go insane just sitting here and doing nothing." Sojiro said, walking through the door and not looking back.

"Kenshin, just let him go," Sano sighed, grabbing his shoulder. "Nothing is going to make that guy feel any better right now."

"Yes, but seeing Amaya-chan is going to make him feel even worse that he does now." Kenshin said, not looking for any more argument.

"He's going to have to see her sooner or later, and no offense Kenshin, but I don't think that he should feel too good right now. Part of redemption is facing your past and he can't do that if he ignores what he's done and the pain he's caused. You should know that better than anyone."

* * *

Sojiro seemed to have slipped into another world. He kept trying to find out what exactly had happened, what he had done to Katana so long ago, but there were so many memories like that. It was worse than torture going through that. He had been soulless back then and it was like he had been given his soul back_…though sometimes I wish that I had never gotten it back_, he thought, but immediately stopped himself. _I cant' think that! I can't…_ So he kept looking through his thoughts, but a scream brought him back to reality.

"Noooo! Nooo!"

Sojiro realized that he was standing right outside Katana's room. He couldn't even move, or look in. He just stood there in a daze.

"Taro! Taro, no don't!"

Sojiro was suddenly flooded with memories. He saw a man protesting, and remembered himself killing him without a second thought because Shishio had told him to. Then he saw a mother holding her baby and Shishio killing them both just because he thought they were a nuisance. He had become totally absorbed with the memory and saw himself walking after a boy and a little girl.

When they came to a ledge over a river he took out a bow, not his favorite weapon, but it would do, and shot. He had intended to hit both the boy and little girl, but the boy had realized what was going on and blocked the arrow meant for the little girl. When he blocked it though, they fell off the edge of the cliff and into the river. He readied another shot, but the boy interfered yet again. So the tiny little girl had managed to live, but most likely not for long, because the strong survive and the weak don't. He had let the girl go thinking that she could cause no true harm.

"Sojiro move!" Kaoru said, trying to get past him. "Megumi needs me!"

"Sorry" Sojiro managed to say quietly, while quickly moving out of the way.

Sojiro wasn't able to handle anymore. The memory replayed over and over in his mind, each time becoming more and more realistic. As the pain welled up in his chest from the memory, he quietly walked away without realizing that tears were filling his eyes.

* * *

"Do you think she'll be all right Megumi?" Kaoru asked, watching the woman mend the stitches Katana had managed to rip even in her weakened state.

"She'll be all right…she's a tough kid…and besides I think she'll live just to make sure that that boy Sojiro dies." Megumi answered, finishing the stitches and wiping away the rest of the blood on her hands before it dried.

"She's so young. We can't let her throw her life away by murdering someone. Look where is has gotten Kenshin and Sojiro." Kaoru said, watching Katana stir in her restless sleep.

"How do you suppose we stop her? By locking her up? I don't really want to lock up a homicidal kid and get her pissed at me too. And how do you know that she hasn't killed anyone yet? By the way she fights, she was probably a hitokiri. She does have a few scars and I bet that each of them has a story to tell."

"Kenshin changed though. And so did Sojiro."

"Yea, but each of them paid a price. Who knows, she may have already paid it, or maybe she never will, and she'll end up like Shishio, consumed with hate."

"I- I will never be like him, I wo-" Katana said before she drifted back into unconsciousness.

* * *

**_(A Few Days Later)_**

"Sojiro, maybe it would be best if you didn't go see her." Kaoru said.

"Megumi-san said that it would be ok if I went to talk to her." Sojiro said, trying to get past Kaoru.

"I wasn't taking about Katana getting hurt, I was talking about you. I mean, we may have gotten all of those weapons out of their hiding places…" Kaoru said, looking over toward Sano and Yahiko, who were sifting through a rather large pile of an assortment of different weapons.

"I'll be fine, and if it is that bad, it would be better if I went to see her while she isn't in her best of shape." Sojiro said, walking past her into Katana's room

"What do you want? Get out! Now!" Katana said close to a scream while trying to get up.

"Calm down, I just want to talk to you, ok?" Sojiro asked wishing he had taken Kaoru's advice.

"No, not ok."

"Well sorry, but this is something that I have to do." He said as he sat on the floor.

"Don't get too comfortable! Once I'm well enough, you won't be doing anything comfortable for quite a while…preferably for the rest of your life."

Sojiro flinched a bit as she spoke, not because of the words, but because of the look of loathing in her eyes. He took a deep breath, "Look Katana…I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry."

"Sorry! _Sorry?_ You really think that after all you've done, _sorry_ will be enough? You destroyed my life, and you just want to say _sorry_ and think I'll forgive you? Think again." As Katana said that, Sojiro could see her tense and her gaze sweep the room for possible weapons.

"I know that sorry isn't much, and I know that you may never forgive me, but I had to say it."

"Good you're done, now get out!"

"No I'm not, I want you to know that I'm the same person that I was then. I've changed, I'm not what I was then."

"You've changed? Well good for you, and guess what, I have too. A lot can happen to a kid who watches her world fall apart and has to grow up on her own, with only revenge to keep her alive. You've become weak Sojiro. You're trapped in you own words, 'If you're strong you live, if you're weak you die.' You are weak, and the weak die."

"Those used to be my words, but they aren't anymore. The strong are meant to protect the weak. From people like Shishio- from people like I used to be… Kenshin showed me that, and I hope someone can show you that before it's too late." Sojiro said as he got up.

"You think you can just say that," Katana said as she rose, "And I'll forgive you, just say 'it's fine now, you said you're sorry.' Sorry disappoint you, but that isn't going to hap-" Katana's head began to spin and she felt herself falling, unable to control it, and her world slowly went from dim to dark.

"Katana!" Sojiro said and he caught her before she could hit the floor. "Megumi-san!

Megumi-san!"

"What?" Megumi answered as she entered the room.

"She…she passed out or something." He said, still holding Katana in his arms.

"I see that. She just over exerted herself, and no wonder with all of the screaming she was doing. I thought I told you that you could see her as long as you didn't upset her too much." Megumi said firmly.

"Well I'm still alive, so she must not have been too upset."

"Sojiro you shouldn't joke. Don't just stand there; if she wakes up while you're holding her, she will most likely choke you with the rest of her strength. Lay her back down, and I think that it would be best if we don't have another conversation like this any time soon."

Sojiro set her down and was about to leave when he decided to cover her up. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…I'll make it up to you somehow…" he whispered into her ear while blinking away tears.

"Come on Sojiro, she needs her rest. She'll be fine. You on the other hand may want to get out of town as soon as possible and start praying that she won't pick up on your trail like a squirrel on a nut."

Sojiro shivered suddenly. The thing was, he didn't know if it was because of what Megumi was saying about Katana was most likely true, or… the squirrels.

* * *

_Sooo sorry about that last part...we just couldn't help put some more squirrel stuff in there! But we do have a reason! We don't mean to spoil anything or give too much away, but squirrels will play a special roll later on in the story...but nothing really extreme like in chapter 5. Don't forget to review!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry for taking forever to update...you can totally blame that on shinsei! ha ha...anywho, hope ya enjoy this chappie...sorry-theres no sojiro in this one...ha ha._**

* * *

**

Till Death Do Us Part

Part 8 (by shinsei)

* * *

Megumi hurried down the street, the clay bottle clasped tightly in her hand. As she neared the dojo, her ears picked up loud shouts and bangs and the doctor prayed her patient had nothing to do with them. Just as she reached for the door a loud 'whack' sent her jumping back, the wooden door rattling noisily in front of her. Megumi cautiously creaked it open to find a bloody, bruised Yahiko lying in a heap at her feet. Sighing in relief, she stepped over him and whispered her promise to return with medicine. Obviously he was the outcome of one of his and Kaoru's numerous fights. But at least Katana-chan wasn't involved… Lost in her thoughts, Megumi ran straight into a door that flew open in her face.

"OW!" she exclaimed, clutching her nose. She felt something ooze over her fingers and knew her nose must look like a bloody mess. She raised her head and opened her mouth to yell out an angry comment—but was stopped short when she saw who it was.

Sano blinked down at her, a towel around his waist his only clothes, his chest glistening with the water from the bath he had just climbed out of. Megumi instantly felt her cheeks get hot and she tried to shove past him.

"Ah geeze…I didn't see ya there fox…"he trailed off as she attempted to shoulder past him. "Are ya hurt?" he asked, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward him.

"Leggo!" Megumi yelled, smacking his hand away. Realizing her nose was uncovered, her hand slapped back up to her face.

A mix of horror and pity shone on Sano's face as he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her toward him. "I'm so sorry Megumi!" He hastily ripped his bandana off his forehead. "Lemme see your nose Megumi…" Despite her best efforts, Megumi's hand was easily pulled out of the way and Sano inspected the damage done to her nose.

"It's nothing—"she tried to pull away, but Sano's grip was like a chain on her arm.

"Looks like somethin' to me," he mumbled. Gently, he brought the cloth up to her nose and dabbed the blood off. Megumi cringed slightly at his touch and Sano muttered an apology under his breath. Sano gently slit his hand around her waist to pull Megumi closer so he could get a better look at the wound.

Feeling his hand around her send shivers down Megumi's spine and she felt her face heat up even more. Then she felt him pull her closer…closer….Without warning, Megumi jerked out of his arms and tenderly touched her nose.

"I don't need your help with something as minor as a nosebleed, Sanosuke. I'm a doctor, remember?" Without waiting for a response, she whirled around and continued on to her current patience's room. She stopped in front of the door and took several slow, deep breaths, waiting for the rapid beating of her heart to slow down. Why had she blushed at something like that? She had acted like a flustered little girl! Shaking her head, Megumi silently scolded herself for behaving so foolishly. And for Sano, of all people! Sighing heavily, Megumi quickly composed herself and knocked lightly on the door. No response came. She knocked louder. Still no noise came from within the room.

"Katana-chan?" Megumi called, rapping harder on the door. Losing her patience, Megumi grabbed the handle and yanked the door open. "Katana! When I knock—" Megumi cut off and stared. "Ken-san!" she yelled, turning away from the empty room and hurrying back the way she had come.

* * *

As Megumi rushed past, Katana gently eased herself up from her hiding place behind the bushes. Checking to make sure no one was around to see her, she scurried out to a low point in the wall and climbed over. As she landed on the other side, a sharp pain shot through her body. She flinched slightly but kept on her way. _Sojiro was supposed to go to town for supplies today…I'll meet him on his way back…_ Katana chuckled to herself as she made her way through the forest.

Hearing a crunching noise behind her, Katana glanced over her shoulder without slowing down. WHAM! Katana bounced backward after running straight into something and landed hard on the ground.

"Ow!" Her stomach was throbbing and she could see a small amount of blood leaking through her shirt. "Dammit…!"

"Katana?" Katana's head snapped up at the mention of her name. Sano stood over her, his arms crossed over his chest, a hard look on his face. "What the hell are you doing out here? You're hurt! You shouldn't be wondering around through the woods!" He offered his hand down to help her up, but Katana slapped it away and jumped to her feet.

"What am _I_ doing out here? What are _you_ doing out here!"

Sano rolled his eyes. "Looking for you! Kenshin and the others are too." He grabbed her wrist. "And now we can go back—" He was cut off as Katana's fist connected with his face. Sano fell on the ground, his hand clutched to his cheek. "Katana! Dammit, what was that for!"

"Cause you are interfering!"

"Interfering with _what_! Are you cooking up another wacko scheme to try and kill Sojiro?"

"What's it matter to you?" Katana demanded.

Sano climbed to his feet. "Sojiro's a friend. And it does kinda bother me that you're trying to kill him."

Katana sighed. "If you're gunna insist on getting in my way…I'm afraid I'm gunna have to get rid of you too."

Sano glared at her. "Are you challenging me to a fight?"

"Maybe," Katana smiled.

Sano shook his head at her. "Look…I don't want to hurt you. Besides, it would be so unfair to you—you're already hurt. It'd be too easy."

"Too easy?" Katana's eyes narrowed. "You think I can be beaten _easily_!" Sano opened his mouth to reply, but Katana's fist hit him straight in the face. Sano once again hit the hard ground.

"That was a pretty good punch…" he murmured, spitting the blood out of his mouth. He glanced up at Katana standing triumphantly over him.

"Had enough?" she asked mockingly.

"You wish," he said, swinging his leg at her ankles.

Katana lost her balance and fell with a smack on top of Sano. She raised her head and found her face inches away from Sano's. Feeling her face get hot, she jumped off him and back on her feet. Sano slowly climbed to his own feet, coughing.

"Geeze…for someone so small…you sure do weight a ton!" SMACK! "OW!" Sano clutched his cheek, the imprint of a hand already showing.

"Why you…!" Katana, at a loss of words cruel enough to use, she decided to express her anger by kicking Sano as hard as she possibly could in the groin. Sano doubled over in pain, but Katana was just getting warmed up; still focusing all her might on her leg, she kicked up, hitting Sano right under his chin, the force sent Sano standing upright again. Without giving any time for the new pain to soak in, Katana kicked for the third and final time: right smack in the center of Sano's face, the impact sending him flying backward and in the dirt.

Breathing heavily, Katana rested her hand against a nearby tree trunk. Her vision doubling before her, Katana gently closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath. Feeling a rough tug on the front of her shirt, Katana's eyes flew open again.

Sano stood breathing heavily in front of her, blood flowing freely from his nose. He easily lifted her off the ground and roughly shoved her against the tree trunk. Katana tried to kick him, but every little movement sent sparks of excruciating pain from her stomach. The smile of victory that crept to Sano's face was enough to sicken her stomach. With one final effort and the last ounce of her strength, Katana put her feet against the trunk of the tree and launched herself off at Sano. His eyes widened, but it was too late to try and stop her. She thrust her hands out in front of her and around Sano's neck as the two hit the ground. The last hard blow to his throat was enough to put him out.

Katana, completely exhausted, rolled off Sano and lay eagle-spread on the ground, gasping for breath. She heard rustling in the bushes, but was too tired to do anything about it. In less than a minute, Kenshin and the others surrounded her and her unconscious opponent. Immediately she was bombarded with questions as she was helped to her feet.

"Are you alright?"

"What happened here?"

"What's with Sano?"

"Did someone attack the two of you?"

"Who did this?"

"Can you stand?"

"Do you need medicine?"

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"I'm f-f-fine!" Katana stammered, brushing off her friends' helping hands. "Just gimme a minute to…catch….my….breath…." Katana collapsed into the awaiting arms of Kenshin.

"Ken-san, please be careful," Megumi commanded, taking a look at Katana's unconscious form. "Oh my—she's torn open her stomach wound again! We have to get her to the dojo, pronto!"

"What about Sano?" Kaoru asked, giving a concerned look in his direction.

"Oh, he'll be fine," Megumi said, slapping Sano's face, "He's as tough as a cockroach!" She slapped him one final time for good measure.

Kaoru laughed uneasily. _And she's a doctor…? _The weary group quietly trudged home.

* * *

"Katana-chan?" Megumi tapped softly at the door. No answer came from within the room, so Megumi let herself in. "Not again," she mumbled, turning away from the empty room. _Now where could she have gone off to…_Megumi stopped in her tracks. Up ahead, peeking though the bushes was Sano. Curious, Megumi strode up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Surprised he jumped and cursed under his breath.

"Megumi?"

"Um, yea that's me. What are you doing sneaking around? Up to no good I suppose…" Megumi trailed off as she spotted was Sano had been spying on. Through the bushes, Katana was practicing her with her swords. "Sano what are you—" she glanced down at him and saw him staring at Amaya again. Chuckling, Megumi suddenly understood. "Sano, Sano, Sano," she muttered, shaking her head, "Into little girls I see. Or maybe plotting revenge for your earlier whipping?" Sano didn't break his gaze from Katana, but his cheeks reddened slightly.

"Can you believe she still beat me and she was hurt?"

Unreasonable anger rose up within Megumi. Storming over to Katana, she grabbed her by the shoulder and, despite her cries, dragged her to her room. "You are my patient and you need rest!" To her further fury, Sano began trailing behind them like a puppy following its master.

Megumi shoved Katana into her room and roughly thrust the bottle of medicine into her hands. "You should know how much to take by now. Or do I have to continue to baby you?" Katana started to protest, but Megumi cut her off. "Do you honestly think I have the time to sit around and baby-sit you? I have more patients than just you! I don't have the time to come and hunt you down all the time! Why don't you just grow up and stop sneaking off!" Megumi whirled around and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Unaware that Sano had been standing outside the door, Megumi ran right into him.

"Oh! Sorry Megumi…hey, can I see Katana?"

Megumi froze. A strange feeling was churning inside her that she didn't like. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears and Megumi, more confused than ever, took her anger out on Sano.

"You wanna see Katana? Be my guest! You two immature babies are perfect for each other!"

Sano blinked. "Megumi…what the hell are you talking about?"

Megumi found herself unable to speak. What was this feeling rising insider her? Why were her eyes watering? "Like I'd be interested in you anyway, Sanosuke Sagara!" Megumi gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth; her face felt like it was on fire.

Sano's eyes widened and he managed to stammer, "You…d-do you….um…do you _like_ me?" Without waiting for her to reply, Sano burst out laughing. "I can't believe this! All this time…! You always acted like you hated my guts, but you _love _me! HA! HA! HA…..!"

Megumi felt her face grow even hotter and her hands were balled into shaking fists at her sides. As he continued to laugh, she felt rage burning inside her; at Sano, at Katana, and at herself. Megumi raised her hand and slapped Sano as hard as she could, cutting off his laughter. Shoving past him, she ran and yelled over her shoulder, "I hate you Sanosuke Sagara! _Hate_ you!"

She ran blindly out the dojo, through the town, and down to the river. Slowing down, she struggled to even her breath and sort out the thoughts. Was Sano right? Was she really in love with him? The more she thought of it, the more realistic the idea became. Megumi sighed and collapsed to her knees. "Why Sano? Why! It's just not fair…especially with Katana…" Her thought process stopped. Katana; the name echoed through her head and rekindled the fiery rage within her.

_This is all Katana's fault,_ she thought. _None of this…this…mess would have happened if it weren't for her, and…_ her thoughts trailed off as she felt a new emotion rise up within her: jealousy. _Sano likes Katana…and if Katana hadn't beaten him up…none of this would have happened! In fact,_ she continued, putting all the pieces together in her mind, _if Katana hadn't even come to the Kamiya dojo…_

Finally, the realization hit her. Everything that had occurred recently; all the messes they had gotten into, all led back to Katana. Smirking, Megumi rose to her feet, dusted herself off, and then headed back to the dojo. _The only way to put things back to normal… is to get rid of Katana.

* * *

_

Can you tell where we're going w/ this? Heh heh...anywho! Sorry for the lack of Sojiro-ness. And I hope we didnt make Sano look too weak...we kinda made Katana look weak when she fought Sojiro so we dont want yall getting the wrong idea: she's strong! We promise to update faster on the next part! Thanks for reading and please review if ya want!


	9. Chapter 9

_Hello readers! Sorry for the slow update...again. But the next chapter is already written out, so it shouldn't take long to check over it and post it. Just a little note: this story is supposed to be about sojiro and amaya/katana/whatever but not ONLY them. We, like many others, are big fans of other coupling, such as kenshinXkaoru, sanoXmegumi and some others. So don't be upset if there's not alot of sojiro-ness...right now we're setting up one of the biggest plot-things of the story. But once we get to that point, there will be plenty of sou-chan! Thanks for your patience and understanding (we hope...)_**

* * *

Till Death Do Us Part**

Part 9 (by baka)

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Katana's pace slowed as she reached the dojo. She realized that someone was watching her and saw an ice cold stare from Megumi. _God just because I don't like staying in bed or cleaning or cooking or doing chores she doesn't have to hate me. And I only ripped my stitches a few times... I think.  
_

"Katana! Get your butt in here! I have been waiting for god knows how long to change your stitches! My goodness, the world doesn't revolve around you!" Megumi yelled coming out of the dojo. "You know that it's important for you to have your bandages changed and stitches checked. It's bad enough you reopen that wound every day!"

"I'm coming Megumi, geeze, aren't you a ray of sunshine today." Katana remarked, _Damn it why can't I learn to think before I speak?_

Katana heard a chuckle behind her. "You know Katana, she is being a ray of sunshine, just one that gives you sunburn and blisters" Sano remarked while smiling brightly at her.

"KATANA!" Megumi screamed, giving them a stare that could send even demons screaming for their mommies.

"You'd better go before she sends out her minions to get you. Man if looks could kill..." Sano said quietly.

"I know I know, we'd be dead about a hundred times over." Katana said smiling at him.

* * *

"Now hold still. Stop being so difficult. It's just a bandage change." Megumi remarked while pulling the bandages so tightly around Katana she felt like her ribs were going to break inwardly. 

"I wouldn't squirm so much, it's just that I can't BREATH!"

"Well it's not _my_ fault you keep on reopening the wounds! If you didn't do that so often then you wouldn't have to have to bandages so tight. Ok I'm done you can go."

"Well thanks Megumi but expect me back soon for suffocation."

"You'll be fine Katana, now go. I have more important things to do."

_

* * *

Geeze, Katana thought, __I seriously can feel my chest throbbing. I wonder what I did to piss Megumi off so much. Who knows, I just don't get these people, one minute they are all nice and friendly then they want to slit your throat in your sleep, or kill you with their food. Oh wait Kaoru was cooking so they haven't tried to poison me yet... _Katana thought, 

"Hey Amaya-chan" Kenshin said looking up from the laundry he was cleaning.

"You're lucky I like you so much otherwise you'd be dead for calling me that." Katana retorted, _He reminds me so much of what Taro was like. I wonder if Taro would have grown up to be like him or if he'd... _She stopped her self because she realized the room seemed to be spinning.

"Amaya-chan are you ok? You look kind of pale. Amaya-chan!" Kenshin screamed as he tried to catch her while she fell. "Amaya-chan! Tell me what's wrong."

"I…can't…breath."

"What do you mean you can't breath?"

"The bandages…Megumi tied them so tight…she said that they were supposed to be tight…so that I didn't hurt myself again, but..." Katana said while gasping for breath.

"Hang on," Kenshin said as he unsheathed his sword and slit her bandages off.

"Kenshin I came to see if you wanted help with the... Oh I'm sorry I didn't know..." Kaoru said walking outside, in shock but recovering quickly with her anger. "Kenshin you should be ashamed! If you are going to be... Well acting like that you should NOT be doing that in public! What if someone came to visit saw the two of you! You are despicable!" She stalked back inside still fuming.

"What was that all about?" Kenshin asked, completely confused. He looked down to see that Katana's bandages had fallen off and that her shirt was open showing a fair amount of cleavage. Then he noticed that his hands were on her waist and that she was in his lap. "I... I'm sorry" He said flustered and turning beat red. "I think I should go talk to Megumi about your bandages."

"That's fine. I must go…um, change" Katana said equally as embarrassed. _Damn it! Now I have two pissed off mental cases on my hands. I don't know why Megumi is so mad but once Kaoru tells her about this..._ Katana shivered at the thought while putting on a new shirt, _well, this is only till I am well enough to destroy Sojiro. I don't care if he has seemed to change. No one can truly change, and he still has to pay._

"Um excuse me miss, but um." A small scrawny boy stuttered as she came outside, "But um, I am from…um, a new store."

"Oh hang on, you don't want me. I'll go get the people who live here." Katana said cutting him off, _God, am I _that_ scary? He looks like he wants to piss his pants._ Katana thought. "Hey you have a visitor!" Katana yelled to no one in particular. But sure enough it worked and along came everyone.

"Who's the visitor?" Yahiko asked, " Where's he from?"

"I don't know, that's why I called for you guys." Katana said turning to see stares of fierce anger from Kaoru and Megumi.

"Well what is it?" Kaoru asked the little boy who looked as if he'd rather be anywhere but at the Kamiya Dojo.

"Well I'm from a new shop in town that is having a special on Valentines and I am supposed to collect orders." The boy said in one breath.

"Valentine?" Kaoru asked looking even more confused than usual.

"Wow, you're not just ugly you're stupid! It's an American holiday where people send others they care about cards and candy and stuff." Yahiko said acting like a complete know-it-all.

"It sounds like fun-we should do it! How much is it? " Kaoru asked while choking Yahiko.

"Its…its, um free.. a free trial." The boy said backing up a good five feet.

"Ok. Well, we will all do it." Kaoru said.

"We will?" everyone else asked in unison.

"Yes we will!" Kaoru shouted.

"She just wants candy I bet, but it's not like she needs any." Yahiko whispered into Sojiro's ear.

"I can take your order now." The boy said shakily holding a pen and paper.

"Ok…I'll go first. Hmmm, what to say? How about…you're great." Kaoru said watching the boy intently as he wrote it down.

"Wow Kaoru, that's so original. Where did you ever come up with something like that?" Sano said smirking.

"I'm still thinking." Kaoru said dragging the boy away by the collar to the opposite end of the yard. " Ok let's see…" She whispered something in his ear. "Yep, that one."

"Ok miss," The boy said writing it down, but so scared that he couldn't even tell what he was writing.

"My turn! I have more important things to do so hurry it up squirt." Sano said walking up, "I'll do 'You're great'. Got that? Good."

_Gosh this is so stupid! Who ever made up Valentine's Day? Stupid holiday…what am I going to say to these mental cases? What about 'The mental home misses you'? No I have to be nice, ok think nice. What's nice?_

"Katana it's your turn. Come on now, the boy doesn't have all day to waste on someone like you." Kaoru said loudly.

"Coming" Katana said. _Nice. Think nice._ "Ok I've got it, I'll do 'You're great'"

"I'm sorry miss, but that has already been used" The boy said inching towards the entrance.

"Oh yeah, " Katana mumbled

"Um miss how about Happy Valentine, that one hasn't been used." The boy said standing in the entrance.

"Ok, sure" Katana said and headed back inside.

"You'll get these back tomorrow." The boy screamed while running out onto the road.

_

* * *

That Katana thinks she's so smart! Stupid, little, two-faced brat! And Kenshin! How could he... That Katana has to go; she is a bad influence! My Kenshin never would have done any of that on his own._ Kaoru thought while training. Wiping off the sweat on her forehead she decided to go for a walk, where she ran into Megumi. 

"Stupid little brat, she is even worse than Kaoru... " Megumi said than realized that she had just run into Kaoru. "Oh hello Kaoru, how are you?"

"Save it Megumi. So you don't like her either." Kaoru said, stating the obvious.

"It's just that she has Sa... I mean the guys wrapped around her finger. So what are we going to do about it?" Megumi asked with her eyes getting an evil looking glaze as if she was thinking of ways to torture her.

"I don't know, but it's late, we can talk about this tomorrow."

* * *

_The Next Day_

"The Valentines are here!" Yahiko yelled at the top of his lungs. Searching through the stack, he finally found one for himself.

Yahiko! Wait for everyone else to get here before you go opening all of yours." Kaoru said while diving into the stack.

"Oh sure. I'll go by your example, but everyone only got one I think." Yahiko said looking disappointed

"Well does everybody have theirs? Ok on the count of three we open them. One, Two, Three" Kenshin said tearing his open carefully so he wouldn't damage anything inside the card. Once it was open he read to himself,

_**Kenshin,  
Will you be my one and only Valentine?  
Always thinking of you,  
Kaoru**_

_Wow, I knew Kaoru liked me but I didn't know that it was that much._ Kenshin looked up sneaking a glance at Kaoru while blushing.

"Who gave me one?" Yahiko wondered aloud while tearing the envelope to shreds. He opened the card and read:

_**Yahiko,  
Would you be my Valentine?  
Would you be my one and only for today?  
Sano**_

_That's... that can't be right._ Yahiko thought looking next to him at Sano and quickly scooted away, _there is a mistake Sano doesn't... isn't..._

_Who would send me one? Maybe it was Kenshin._ Kaoru thought while reading the card.

_**Kaoru,  
Your beauty is radiant,  
And so is my love for you,  
be my Valentine?  
Yahiko**_

_Yahiko! Aww how cute, he has a crush._ Kaoru noticed that Yahiko was scooting closer to her. _It's sweet but inappropriate. I guess I'll have to try and let him down gently._

**_Megumi,  
Today would be magnificent  
_**_**if you would agree to be my Valentine,  
Even if it is just for one day.  
Kenshin**_

_Yes! I knew he liked me! Who cares about that rooster headed moron Sano when I can have Ken-san! I won't think about that stupid moron with his arrogant attitude and stupid inflated ego of his any more! Now Ken-san is the only one on my thoughts. But I wonder who gave Sano one._ Megumi thought while trying to suppress her happiness and curiosity.

**_Sano,  
I know we may be different,  
But today please put that aside  
_**_**and be my dearest Valentine.  
Megumi**_

_So she does like me! I knew it! Wait…why am I so happy, I don't like Megumi, I can't like Megumi...that would be impossible. But I think I like..._ Sano cut off his thoughts and tried to think of who gave Megumi one.

**_Katana,  
We may not always get along  
But I truly care about you  
Be my Valentine?  
Sojiro_**

_The nerve! That idiot, that jerk! If he thinks this will change anything he is wrong! No stupid valentine can change my mind about that bastard!_ Katana thought, glaring at Sojiro.

**_Sojiro,  
We are perfect for each other  
Will you be my Valentine?  
Katana_**

_Wait, hang on that's not possible. 'We're perfect for each other' what does she mean? Is she still mad at me? What's going on?_ Sojiro thought, looking over towards Katana and noticing that she was looking at him with one of her 'You can go to hell, but not before I kick you ass' glares.

"Does anyone else think that they made a mistake?" Yahiko asked walking across the room as far away from Sano as he could get.

"No I don't think so."

"No"

"Probably not" came from everyone in the room but Katana and Sojiro.

"Well I think I am going to go to town for a while." Yahiko said heading for the door.

"Wait up squirt, I've got some stuff to do in town too, I'll go with you." Sano said getting up.

"No that's ok…I really shouldn't go to town today I think…I will go, um…train." Yahiko said running as fast as possible from the room.

Yahiko's exit was quickly followed by everyone else's excuse to get away to contemplate the meaning of their card and to get away before they were expected to give a reply.

* * *

_We don't want this story to be entirely serious...baka likes doing comical scenes, so think of it as comic relief. Chapter 5 was defiantely pushing it, but we promise it wont get THAT bad again. Also, in case you still dont get it, Megumi and Kaoru aren't meant to look "evil"...katana is just "stealing their guys" (in their eyes) so wouldn't that make you mad too? That will be made clearer next chappie...until then, hope you enjoyed reading and review if ya want!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Wow! That was a lot quicker than we thought! Anywho, Kaoru may seem ooc, but just caz she loses her temper...I guess it depends if you can imagine Kaoru getting that mad/jealous. Anywho, on with the chappie...no sou-chan, but we mention him! (ha ha...) Just remember this isnt JUST a sojiro story. We wanna use lots of characters! Though he is kinda a main character...hmm. oh well, sorry if you have a problem with that...have an open mind! Btw, thanx to all those who have been reviewing! We appriate yall and everybody else that takes the time to read our story... :sniffle tear sniffle:_

**

* * *

Till Death Do Us Part**

Part 10 (by shinsei)

* * *

The door slid shut, leaving Katana alone with her card from Sojiro. She stared at it and read it over and over, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"What the hell is this!" she screaming, tearing her card in half. "That _jerk_! The _nerve_ of him-what the hell is he thinking! That some damn card is gunna stop me! I'll kill him for this! Kill him!"

"Weren't you going to kill him before?" Katana whirled around and came face-to-face with Kenshin, who was giving her a wiry smile. "That is, if you were talking about Sojiro."

"Of course I was talking about Sojiro!" Katana fumed. "You aren't gunna believe this, Kenshin! I tried to kill him-and then he sends me that damn card asking me to be his valentine! What the crap is that freak thinking!"

"Lower your voice Amaya-chan. You shouldn't be screaming at the top of your lungs," Kenshin said calmly, bending down to pick up the two halves of her card. "Sojiro is just trying to make amends with you—"

"Well, it's not gunna happen," Katana interrupted, cracking her knuckles. "As soon as I find him…" she trailed off and yanked her sword out of its sheath.

"Amaya-chan…" Kenshin smiled, but was immediately tacked to the ground, Katana's hands around his neck.

"What did I tell you 'bout calling me Amaya-_chan_!" Katana hollered. The door suddenly slid open again, and Kaoru walked in with a handful of papers.

"Ok Kenshin, I need you to run to town and pick up some supplies for din—" Kaoru cut off as she looked up saw them, and her papers fell to the floor. Kenshin and Katana both jumped to their feet, their cheeks stained with red. Kaoru continued to stare in shock at the two for a minute longer before quickly turning her back to them.

"K-Kaoru-san, it-it's not what it-what it looks like!" Katana stammered hastily, "I can explain—"

"You can…explain?" Kaoru murmured quietly. "Then please," she turned to Katana, tears filling her eyes, "start explaining."

* * *

Megumi sighed happily, her card from Kenshin clutched to her chest. _This day can't possibly get any better!_ As she turned the corner, she found herself in front of Katana's room. _Oh yea_ she thought, her bliss slipping slightly _I have to give Katana her medicine._ Megumi carefully folded her letter and placed it in her pocket before knocking on the door. As she expected, there was no reply. She sighed again and felt her good mood slit down another notch. _I guess she hasn't returned to her room yet…I might as well wait inside for her_ Megumi thought, opening the door. 

"Can you get any messier!" Megumi exclaimed, eyeing the dirty room. Numerous weapons littered the corners along with piles of clothes and dusty, half emptied travel bags. "Well," Megumi said to herself, "since I'm in such a good mood, I might as well pick up a bit for the brat."

With that, Megumi began picking through the piles. She carefully folded the clothes and then neatly packed most of the weapons into an empty travel bag. With the biggest mess out of the way, Megumi started going through the other bags, rearranging their belongings so that everything fit perfectly. Megumi let out a sigh-only one bag left. She picked up the bag and held it upside down, letting the contents drop out. A large wooden box suddenly fell out and clattered loudly on the floor. Megumi carefully picked up the old beaten box and gazed at it. Curiously, Megumi opened the box and took out the papers that were inside. They were yellow with age and she could barely make out the writing.

Megumi carefully sifted through the pile until she came to an ancient looking photograph. In the picture was a happy couple, the wife holding an infant to her chest. Next to the woman was a young, handsome boy that looked like a miniature of the older man; most likely the man's son. Clutching the boy's hand was a young girl that looked around Yahiko's age. Megumi studied the picture and then gasped.

"That girl in the picture…oh my god…it's Amaya! Is this…her family?"

* * *

Katana stared at Kaoru at a loss for words. 

Well?" Kaoru demanded, turning fully around to face Katana. "You said you could explain…so do it!"

"Now, now! There's no need to lose our tempers—" Kenshin put it.

"You stay out of this!" Katana and Kaoru yelled in unison. Kenshin quickly closed his mouth.

Katana sighed heavily. "Look Kaoru. I don't know what your problem is, but you've been jumping to some wild conclusions. It's like you're _trying_ to hate me!"

"Hey what's going on…" Yahiko and Sano asked, walking in the room. The two girls ignored them and Kenshin signaled them to not interfere.

"What's my problem? What's _my_ problem!" Kaoru's hands clenched into fists as she began to lose her temper, "You're the only one here with a problem! I brought you here to my dojo and all you've been doing is causing trouble! First to try to kill Sojiro and now you're going after Kenshin? The real question here is what's _your_ problem?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Katana asked. "You know damn well why Sojiro deserves to die! He killed my family—he destroyed my life!"

"Then stop trying to destroy mine!"

Katana blinked, stunned at Kaoru's words.

"Everything was fine and normal. Everyone was safe and happy here together at the dojo…and then _you_ showed up. You ruined everything! Ever since you showed up, everyone's been stressed out. You almost killed Sojiro _and _Sanosuke, you brainwashed Yahiko, you did who knows what to Megumi, and now you're falling in love with Kenshin! What the hell is _wrong_ with you?"

An unsettling silence fell over the room. Sano, Yahiko, and Kenshin all stared in shock at Katana. Suddenly the silence was broken by laughter—Katana abruptly burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Everyone continued to stare at her with the same thought on their minds: she'd lost it.

"You…you think I'm…I'm in _love_ with Kenshin!" Katana exclaimed, bursting into laugher again. Still laughing, she bent down, picked up the forgotten papers, and handed them to Kaoru. Wiping her eyes, Katana continued, "I'm afraid you've got it all wrong. I don't love Kenshin. Not like that."

"But what do you mean…"

Katana smiled. "I had an older brother. He protected me…in fact, that's how he died. He died to save me. I loved my mother and father but…I had this bond with my brother…He was always there for me when I needed him, right to the very end…" Katana shook her head slightly, silently ordering herself not to cry. "I've always wondered why I felt so drawn to Kenshin when I first met him…and now I get it. Kenshin…he's just like my older brother. And I guess that's how I've been seeing him."

"Katana…" Kaoru whispered softly.

Katana smiled at her. "I'm sorry for acting the way I have. I promise…I'll repay you," she turned and started walking out the door. "Would that be okay?" she stopped and turned around to face Kaoru again.

"Yea…sure." Kaoru smiled.

Katana turned to Kenshin, "I'm sure that's okay with you too, right….oniichan?"

Everyone jumped in surprise at Katana referring to Kenshin as "big brother". Kenshin smiled and walked over to Katana. Ruffling her hair her said, "If it's okay with Kaoru-dono, then it's fine with me too, Amaya-chan."

_KA-POW!_

Katana punched Kenshin to the ground.

"Oro…what was…that for?"

Katana stood over him and flashed a victorious smile. "What did I tell you about calling me Amaya-_chan_?" As everyone laughed, Katana felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Staring out at the sunset, she whispered, "Are you watching over me…Taro?"

"What a gorgeous sunset!" Kaoru exclaimed, helping Kenshin to his feet.

Katana smiled. "Yea…" then it dawned on her. "Wha…sunset! Oh crap! I have to go get my medicine from Megumi!" she exclaimed, the panic rising in her voice as she raced off towards her room. _Megumi's gunna _kill_ me!_

* * *

The worn photograph fluttered to the ground as Megumi collapsed to her knees. She carefully picked up the picture with trembling hands. _This…this is your family, Katana? The family that…that awful man Shishio and…Sojiro…killed?_ Megumi jumped as the door suddenly slid open. She took several slow breaths to calm her racing heart before turning around to see Katana standing in the doorway. 

"Uh…Katana…I see you're here for your medicine, right?" Katana said nothing, but continued to stare at Megumi. Megumi stood up and dusted herself off. "I'm sorry about just coming into your room like this…but as you can see, I fixed it up for you. See? You can actually see the floor now!" The uneasy silence continued to hang over the room.

Megumi felt herself beginning to get annoyed at Katana's silence. Without thinking about it, Megumi began to yell at her. "Katana! Are you even listening? I said I'm sorry for just barging in you room, ok? But I cleaned it for you! When someone does something nice for you like that, you should at least thank them!" Megumi saw Katana's eyes move toward the pictures still clutched in Megumi's hand. Sighing, Megumi turned and gently began putting the papers back in the box.

"Sorry," Megumi said softly. "I didn't mean to dig through your belongings. But I was cleaning and—"

"What are you doing?" Megumi was taken aback by finally hearing Katana's quiet voice.

"What do you mean? I'm putting your stuff away—"

"What are you doing?" Katana asked again, her voice deathly quiet. Megumi turned to face her and found Katana staring at her feet.

"Katana, what did you say? You're talking too quietly. Please look at me when you speak—"

Katana jerked her head up, her face contorted into a look of fury. "What the hell do you think you're _doing_!"

* * *

_See where we're going with this? Hope you enjoyed! Review if you feel like it (even if you dont, it would be nice if you did anyway...ha ha)_


	11. Chapter 11

Omg, soooooo sorry you guys! For those of you that don't know, school started up about a week ago (at least here in good 'ole Texas...) and the teachers has packed us down with homework. Already, we have two major project due within the next week, leaving us with little to no freetime. So, that's why the updating has been slowed down. We hope the next updates won't take as long; in fact, the next chapter is planning to be posted -hopefully- by Sunday.

Ok, enough chit-chat! Read and enjoy! Sorry again!**

* * *

**

Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter 11 (by baka)

* * *

Before Katana could control herself, she lunged at Megumi, placing a blade against her neck. _She had no right to look at that! How could she!_ Her mind screamed as she struggled to keep from slitting the older woman's throat then and there. 

Fear consumed Megumi's eyes as she tried to calm the rage from the girl in front of her. "Katana I know how you feel…like no one understands you, but you're not the only person who has lost someone. Other people have suffered just as you have. Yahiko lost his parents, and so did Kaoru. Even Sano has lost someone close to him. Captain Sagara, his idol. His life used to be consumed with revenge but he realized that fighting and more bloodshed wouldn't make it better. It just makes other people feel sorrow. God only knows how many people Ken-san has lost, but he doesn't let revenge consume him. He still tries to help others so they won't have to know the pain of loss. I know you're upset about losing your family, but you are not the only one. I lost my family too."

"You have no idea of what it's like! Or did you watch as men mercilessly slaughtered your family, then laugh about it? Did you watch as your mother bled to death? Did you hear your baby sister crying and screaming, like you wanted to, and then her life be cut short because of it? Well did you!" Katana screamed.

Megumi shakily shook her head, no not having the courage to speak.

"No! Don't tell me you know what it feels like because you have no damn idea!" Removing the knife from Megumi's throat, a small cut began to bleed freely. Shoving Megumi out of the way Katana grabbed her wooden box before storming out of the room, nearly running Sano over in the process.

"So much for your good mood" Sano said falling into step beside her as she stormed down the empty hallway." What's wrong with you little missy?"

"Sano do me a favor. Shut up."

"Rrar! Geeze, what is it with the women at this dojo? You're always pissed at me. What did I ever do to you?" Sano asked, stepping in front of her and blocking her path.

"Sano, I'm not in a good mood at the moment so could you be nice and fuck off!" Katana screamed, waving the knife in her hand dangerously.

"Ok ok, I know when I'm not wanted" Sano stated arrogantly standing there for a moment as if he wouldn't move, then walking off mumbling under his breath about the Kamiya dojo's insane women. Walking passed Katana's room, he noticed Megumi standing in a daze with her hand on her throat. "You might want to clear out of here before Katana comes back. She's on the war path again." Sano said, leaning against the door frame.

"Too late for that," Megumi mumbled, removing her hand from her neck and examining the blood on it.

Walking across the room, Sano placed his hand gently under Megumi's chin, tilting her head up so he could see the cut more clearly. "For a doctor you sure don't take good care of yourself. In case you didn't know, you're bleeding. Someone really needs to talk to that girl…she's too dangerous for her own good" Sano said, pressing the tip of his sleeve on her cut and bringing his gaze upward so he could look her in the eyes. His face was only inches away from hers and on instinct he slowly leaned forward...

"You know when people say get a room, they mean get your own not someone else's." Lips barely touching, Sano and Megumi separated, realizing Katana was in the room. "I forgot my swords" Katana stated swiftly, walking in between the two and slipping her swords into her belt, before quickly disappearing outside again, leaving Sano and Megumi in shock at what they had done.

"Well uh-- I should probably go bandage this after all," Megumi muttered before quickly fleeing the room.

_Follow her!_ Sano's mind was screaming, _Say something you moron! Anything, just say something damn it!_

"Uh Megumi?" Sano asked catching her in mid-step. "I guess since you got blood all over my shirt you need to wash it." _Crap, great job Sano._

Turning around, Megumi looked at him in disbelief before storming off screaming, "You can wash your own clothes Sano, and it's not like you do anything else useful around here anyway. You just hang around everyone else being a human parasite."

Sano quietly watched her leave while his thoughts were causing a hurricane within his mind. _Idiot! Idiot! IDIOT! Why in God's name did I just try to kiss Megumi? She's the annoying fox lady, why would I try and kiss her? I can't like her, no I can't! I need a drink, a really big drink. And hey she had no right to call me a parasite...I do help out around here... oh yea I needed a drink._ Checking his pockets he realized he was out of money. _But first it seems that I need to borrow some cash. Can't ask Megumi obviously, hmmm where's Kaoru at?_

* * *

After walking in on Megumi and Sano, Katana needed to clear her mind and decide what her next move would be. Things that had been said while she was there were starting to bother her, which got on her nerves. She had never really cared about what others had said before now, but she couldn't help but ask herself why she did now and what made these people different. 

_Well, Kaoru said that she practically hates me, and that I have ruined everything she's worked for over the years. Megumi has been pissed at me for who-knows-what reason. Earlier didn't really help matters between us either. Kenshin seems to be disappointed in me a lot, but how can he expect me to give up killing Sojiro so quickly? Sojiro is the only reason I'm here and since Kenshin is so determined to protect him there is no use staying here unless I could get stronger overnight. What I need is to leave to train for a while, but if I leave Sojiro could slip through my grasp. What to do, what to do?_

A scurrying sound behind her made Katana forget her indecision for a moment. Thinking it was Yahiko or someone else she threw a blade as a warning. Not hearing any comments, she turned around to make sure she hadn't killed anyone important by accident. She saw a brown, furry animal sitting calmly on top of her blade.

"Hello little fellow. What are you, a chipmunk?" Katana asked the furry creature, who seemed to be giving her a death glare at the word chipmunk. Quickly thinking of a different animal, she asked whatever came to mind first, " A gofer... no wait a squirrel!" Seeing the squirrel's eyes go from demented to curious Katana let out a shaky breath. The squirrel cocked its head to the side as if it were studying her. After a few moments, it seemed to deem her ok and it scurried on top of her knee, then hesitantly, it offered her an acorn.

"Uh no thank you, " Katana stated politely, watching as the creature hopped off her knee and scurried to the side of the house and returning with something brown and rectangular. The squirrel offered her the new object and Katana accepted.

"Thanks." She said taking to object into her hand and realizing that it was a wallet with quite a handsome amount of money inside.

"Now where did you manage to get something like this?" She asked the squirrel who seemed to get a smirk on its face. " I guess you have your secrets and I have mine, but little fellow I think you have brought me a sign. I guess I'm hitting the road again aren't I? Do you want to come?" Answering her by jumping onto her shoulder, the squirrel made itself comfortable, partly hidden by her hair. " I guess that's a yes."

Once she was sure the squirrel was safely situated on her shoulder, Katana quickly headed to her room. In her room, the squirrel jumped from her shoulder and laid down on her pillow, lazily watching as Katana began throwing her belongings into a bag. It didn't take to long or much effort since Megumi had "helped" earlier. Gathering what was left of her weapons Katana silently stuck her head out the door, not wanting to be seen. For some reason she had a feeling that if Kenshin knew she was leaving there would be a big argument and she didn't want that.

"Come on little fellow, it's time for us to head out. I'm not sure where we're going but the sooner we get there the better." The squirrel gave her a questioning look still lying on the pillow. " Sorry, but I'm not always the most patient person you know. Now come on if you want to come with me, if not you can stay here." Quickly the squirrel made up its mind and bounded from the pillow to Katana's shoulder as she slipped out the door and on out of the dojo.

* * *

Sojiro was just returning from a walk through the town when he saw Katana stealthily walking down the road. She had not seen him yet, and hoping to avoid confrontation her, he swiftly jumped behind a cherry blossom tree.

* * *

Turning around, Katana had a feeling of unease. Someone was watching her; she could feel their eyes on her. She stood there and waited for them to approach. When they didn't she decided that if they wanted to fight then they would have to instigate it, because she wanted to be on her way, not wasting her time searching for some wanna-be hoodlum.

* * *

Sojiro watched her as she turned around uneasily. He held his breath, hoping she wouldn't find him. In his mind that girl was the most determined person he had ever met, and for some reason it seemed that she had Karma on her side. The wind blew her hair slightly and something on her shoulder caught his eye. 

_A squirrel! No not just a squirrel THE squirrel! No wait; it couldn't be the same one. _Sojiro's mind flashed back to being in the forest and seeing the first squirrel approach him. _O God it is that squirrel. I know the world hates me but combining those two! As if my luck wasn't bad enough already... _As if Sojiro's thoughts were spoken aloud, the squirrel looked directly at him, an evil smirk crossing its face. Holding his breath with hopes of disappearing, he watched as Katana and the squirrel slowly disappeared from view.

_O shit! O shit I'm screwed, really screwed._ He thought, once again allowing himself to breath. He slipped out from behind the tree and headed in the opposite direction of Katana.

* * *

After leaving the city limits behind, Katana began talking aloud to her companion, "Well, where to go first? I guess I need to restock on weapons. I know a friend that can help me with that so I guess we get to go visit her. You know what you need? A name. What do you think it should be?" Katana asked as she continued on her way, leaving Tokyo, the Kamiya dojo, and Sojiro behind her.

* * *

_Hope yall enjoyed! Once again, sooo sorry for the slow update, but we plan to have the next part up sometime this weekend. Thanks for reading, review if you want._


	12. Chapter 12

Hello again people! We barely managed to post this one this weekend...so much homework! But anyway! Before yall start reading, we'd like to clear up a few things from last chapter.

At the very end, it looked like Sojiro was afraid ofKatana. Nope. Why would he be scared of her? He actually wasn't afraid of her, but kinda was...ya see, when he fought Katana, the assassin within him nearly came out again! (gasp) and so he's "afraid" of what would happen if he had to fight her again. Ok? We hope we cleared that up...**

* * *

**

Till Death Do Us Part

Part 12 (by shinsei)

* * *

"Yoshiro? Or maybe Ryo? No, no...Kichiro. How's that?" Katana smiled hopefully at the squirrel sitting across from her as it shook its furry head. "Come on! I've given you every name I can think of! Just pick one!" The squirrel glared at her and she returned it. "You have no right to complain about anything!" she yelled despite the stares of the people around her. "We've ridden five different trains. Five! And every time those damn men made me pay for _your_ ticket! Did you even try to hide in my hair? No...you don't care cause its not your money!"

The squirrel angrily chittered back at her, as if to say _Well its not _your_ money either!_

"Excuse me Miss." Katana glanced up and saw a man standing by her. "It this seat taken?" He gestured to the seat next to her. He looked like one of those businessmen you might see in big city streets wearing a cheap suit; noticeable but easily forgotten. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. There was something about his eyes that put Katana on edge, something that told her he was not all that he appeared. He might have appeared handsome to other woman; he was, after all, and a bit muscular, but Katana didn't like the vibe she was getting from him.

"No, but I don't want you to sit there," she said coldly, not caring that the man probably thought she was a bitch. But he just smiled at her and sat down anyway. Katana crossed her arms and turned away from him, glaring out the window.

"I apologize Miss," the man said. "But there are no other seats on the train."

"Sounds like a personal problem to me."

"May I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"What is a pretty young lady such as yourself doing traveling all alone?"

"What business is that of yours?" Katana spat. She started to turn and glare at him, but as she began to turn, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling Katana into a forceful kiss. Suddenly the man flew back and slammed into the opposite window of the train. Startled passengers turned to stare at Katana, who was collecting her belongings and wiping her mouth in disgust.

"Bastard!" she yelled, kicking his semi-conscious form. "I'll kill you for that!" She reached for her sword, but the squirrel was chittering loudly, pouting frantically to the front of the car. Katana glanced over to see armed train workers making their way down the isle toward her. "We'll finish this another day," she said, giving the man another good kick.

"I-Innen..." he managed to choke out, coughing up blood as he did. Katana snorted and opened the nearest window and climbed out.

* * *

"Stop complaining!" Katana yelled. "I paid for a damn train ride! So we're gunna ride the damn train!" The squirrel shook its head before leaping into her lap for safety. Instead of completely leaving the train, Katana and her squirrel friend had climbed on the top of the train and made themselves as comfortable as they could. Petting the shivering squirrel in her lap, Katana sighed. "Sorry...its not your fault...its that son of bitch! How dare he do that to me!" She shakily touched her lips and felt her eyes suddenly fill with tears. "That was my first kiss...Damn him! I swear I'll kill him! 'Karma' he said. Ha! The only one that's getting back at anyone is me! Innen my ass!" The squirrel suddenly perked up and started chittering loudly and yanking on her shirt.

"What? Innen?" The squirrel chittered happily again. Katana finally got it. "You want your name to be Innen?" The squirrel nodded. Katana laughed and rubbed under the squirrel's chin. "Fine, fine. 'Karma' it is."

Innen suddenly leapt off of Katana's lap and dove into a nearby bag. After swimming about in the bag for a few minutes, the squirrel emerged with a wallet in its paws. Katana stared a moment before bursting into laugher.

"_That's_ karma for you!"

* * *

With a loud whistle, the train finally came to a screeching halt in the Kyoto station. Katana jumped off the top of the caboose and made her way through the densely packed station. Once out, she began to make her way through the Kyoto streets, taking in all the sites and sounds. The old buildings with their striking architecture towered over her and the numerous street venders hollered all around, showing off their merchandise. Katana sighed heavily. _How am I supposed to find one person in all this?_ Her stomach growled at her, demanding food. Katana shifted her bags on her shoulders and decided to find food before looking for anyone.

"This place looks good," Katana stated and Innen chittered his agreement. "Then the Shirobeko it is," she said, walking into the restaurant. The cozy restaurant was pretty packed and very noisy. Before Katana could change her mind and leave, she was greeted by a strangely familiar woman who introduced herself as Sae. Sae led her to the back of the restaurant and she was seated.

"So," Sae smiled. "Will that be a dinner for two?"

"Two?" Katana asked.

"Well, your little friend can't eat for free."

Katana nodded before glaring at Innen. "You're nothing but a money sucker." Innen snickered at her. The food came, and was delicious. _The best meal I've had in days!_ Katana thought, shoveling more of the beef stew into her mouth. The next words she heard, however, nearly choked her.

"Been awhile since Shishio was killed." Katana coughed, but continued to listen to the conversation coming from behind her.

"Yea," a girl's voice said, "I wonder how Himura's doing." Katana choked again, coughing harder. She felt a hand patting her back and heard the girl's voice again. "Are you alright?" Katana nodded and opened her mouth to thank the girl—but stopped and stared.

"M-Misao!" There was no mistaking her. The girl was about her age, with piercing blue eyes and a long black braid that was draped over her shoulder. Misao stared back at Katana before her face lit up with recognition.

"Katana! Is it really you?" Katana jumped to her feet and hugged Misao fiercely.

"It's so great to see you! I came to Kyoto to look for you!" Katana explained. "I heard you say something about Kenshin..."

"Himura? You met him? Oh, then you were in Tokyo! So, how is everyone? Kaoru-san, Yahiko-kun...is everyone okay?"

"Oh...them. Yea, I'm sure they are all doing much better now that I left." Katana sighed and closed her eyes, the fights with Kaoru and Megumi racing through her mind.

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to explain back at the Aoi-ya," Misao said, yanking her arm and pulling her out the restaurant. Before Katana had time to protest, Misao had dragged her out the Shirobeko and down the crowded Kyoto streets.

* * *

"GRAMPS! COME OUT HERE! WE'VE GOT COMPANY!"

"Was that really necessary?" Katana sweatdropped.

"Well I gotta let em know you're here somehow!" Misao said cheerfully. Before Katana had the chance to tell her differently, five people piled out of the Aoi-ya. Katana tried to hide behind Misao before they could recognize her, but it was too late. Instantly, the five Oniwabanshu swarmed around her, showering her with questions.

"How have you been Katana-chan?" Kurojo smiled, ruffling her hair. Katana brushed his hand away and returned the smile.

"You haven't gotten into too much trouble since your last visit, have you?" Shirojo asked.

"No! Well…you…might…say that…" Katana trailed off as the shinobus laughed at her.

"Well we're all glad you're doing well Katana-kun," Okina said. "I really would hate it if such a pretty girl were hurt…"

"Gramps…" Misao warned.

"Oh! Is someone jealous?" Okon teased, flipping her long hair over her shoulder.

"Wha…what are you saying! Jealous of _what_!"

"You are jealous!" Omasu joined in. "Katana's taking all the spotlight away from you!"

Misao turned to Katana and laughed uneasily. "Don't listen to these idiots…"

"I didn't indent to," Katana laughed.

"We're just saying," Okon started.

"That you better watch your man!" Omasu finished.

Misao stared at the two women. "What are you two talking about? What man?" Omasu and Okon struggled to hold back their giggles as comprehension dawned on Misao's face, which turned red as a tomato before she turned on Katana.

"Y-you…no! You wouldn't—couldn't! Katana! You cannot have Aoshi-sama!"

"Since when did someone own me?" Everyone turned to the familiar voice. As if on cue, Shinomori Aoshi stepped out of the Aoi-ya to find quite a sight. Okon and Omasu were practically rolling on the floor laughing. Shirojo and Kurojo were also laughing, though not quite as hard. Okina was tugging on his beard with an amused look on his face, and Misao's face looked like she had third-degree burns. Katana began slowly backing away until Aoshi took notice of her. "Who are you?" He demanded.

"Aoshi," Okina tsked him. "Don't you remember Katana-san?"

Aoshi studied Katana for a moment before nodding slowly, "Oh yea…you're Misao's little friend. You were here for weapons last time right?"

_Little friend my ass,_ Katana thought, about to give him a piece of her mind. _Still six feet under in denial, I see. Misao hasn't been a kid in a long time buddy, and you know it. So stop kidding yourself. My god, why do guys have to be so dense when it comes to realizing someone likes them and they like them in return? Life would be so much simpler if people like them just fessed up. _Katana was already debating singing 'Misao and Aoshi, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…' but decided against it. She wasn't feeling all that great and didn't want to have to deal with Misao's temper. But in her mind she thought it might be worth it to see the look on Aoshi's face.

"Now, now! Let's not forget Katana was injured and we took her in!" Okon said.

"That's why she was here," Omasu added. "Though Misao did give her kunai….right?"

"We already know the story!" Misao exclaimed, finally recovering. "Now its dark so can we _please_ go inside now? Katana's gunna tell her about her travels!"

"I am?" Katana asked, throwing Misao a questioning look. Before she could object, she was ushered inside and shown to her room.

* * *

"Wow!" Katana exclaimed, admiring the room. It was much nicer than she remembered. The floor and walls seemed new, as did the furniture, which were all high quality materials.

"This is one of our best rooms," Misao said proudly. "Now enough of that! Time to tell about your travels. And don't forget about your promise."

"Promise?"

Misao sighed, sinking to the floor. "You already forgot? A few months ago when you came here, we took care of you. You were bloody and bruise from training in that dojo."

"I remember that," Katana said sourly. Here least favorite memory of Kyoto was of that dojo she had trained at for three months in her quest to hunt down Shishio and Sojiro.

"Yes," Misao continued, "And then when you got better, I gave you some of my kunai and in return, you promise to come and visit again…and when you did, you would tell all about you travels."

Katana gave her a sad smile. "Yes, but I'm not really sure I should talk about stuff like that…it's kinda private."

Misao slammed her hands down on the floor, causing Katana to jump. "What does that mean! Private my ass! I thought we were friends Katana!"

Katana opened her mouth to speak, but the door slid open and Okina walked in and handed Katana a slip of paper. Confused, she asked, "What's this?"

"Your bill," Okina answered simply. "For your stay at the Aoi-ya." Katana shrugged and opened up the paper—and screamed at the outrageous price tag.

"WHAT IS THIS OLD MAN! I'M STAYING HERE FOR ONE DAMN NIGHT AND YOU CHARGE_ THIS_ !"

"One night? No, if I remember correctly, your stay here a few months ago adds up to a few weeks. And do you expect me to let _strangers_ stay for free?"

Katana opened her mouth—and shut it. Oh, they were good. By the smug looks on Okina and Misao's faces, they had planned this for some time. _Well its not like I have much choice…I mean, those train rides drained that wallet Innen found a while back dry. That other guy's wallet didn't have much in it either._ "Fine," she grumbled. "But first…I want you to tell me about Shishio being in Kyoto."

Misao gave her a puzzled look. "You haven't heard about Shishio being killed?"

"No…I knew all about that. But back in the Shirobeko, you said something about Kenshin. Did he have anything to do with that?"

"You mean you don't know? I thought you stayed at the Kamiya dojo with everyone."

"I did…but I didn't know they were involved with the incident with Shishio. Did Kenshin have something to do with Shishio's death?"

"Himura had _everything_ to do with it! He's the one that finished him off!"

"But I thought it was Hitokiri Battousai…" Katana trailed off, finally putting the pieced together. "You mean…Kenshin is…"

"You didn't know that?" Misao asked, surprised.

Katana thought for a minute. "So that means Kenshin's sword technique is Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu…"

"Man, for living with Kenshin, you sure don't know squat about him," Misao pointed out. "Than I guess you don't know about Sejiruo Hiko."

"…and that would be…?"

"Kenshin's master, duh!"

Katana's eyes widened, "The master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is here, in Kyoto? Please!" She reached out and grabbed Misao by the collar of the shirt and shook her. "Please tell me where he is! I just gotta see him! Please please please please please PLEASE!" Misao made a coughing noise, and Katana realized she was choking the poor girl, and quickly released her.

"Why do you need to meet Hiko-san?" Okina asked.

"Uh…I…It's just something I gotta do…" Katana sprang to her feet, but quickly regretted his. Her stomach lurched and Katana saw her vision double before her.

"Katana? Katana! Are you alright?" Misao asked frantically, helping Katana keep her balance. Katana opened her mouth, but Misao's gasp cut her off. "K-katana! Your stomach! Your stomach…its gushing blood!" Katana peeked down and saw the front her shirt was dripping with blood.

_Oh no! _she thought, _My medicine…I don't have the medicine from Megumi!_ Before she knew it, she was on the ground and Okina was yelling for help. Misao was shaking her, calling her name, but Katana found herself paralyzed. Misao's screams eventually turned to whispers, then disappeared all together as Katana let herself fall into darkness.

* * *

Yeah! Misao! (We love Misao) Anywho, Shinsei and Baka here to clear up some stuff that you may be confused about:  
1. Innen is the kanji for "karma". In case you didn't know...  
2. That random dude on the train was a perv  
3. Innen (the squirrel) stole the perv's wallet...ha ha  
4. Misao and Katana are really good friends but Katana doesn't get along with Aoshi very well...

Alright, that's all for now. Any thing else will be revealed later on! Please stay tuned for more later on! We'll try to update as soon as we can, but yall know how school can be! Thanks for reading, review if you feel like it!


	13. Chapter 13

Helloooo folks, we're back! Soooo sorry it took so long for us to update, w/ school and all that crap, but we managed (ha). Anywho, thanks everybody that reviewed/emailed/whatever...we appreciate the support! Uh, but can we keep those emails that scream at us to 'UPDATE!' to a minimum? No offense-we really appreciate you taking the time to email us-but getting like 20 emails that only nag us to update can get kinda annoying. Thanks...hope yall enjoy the fic...we did! (heh heh)

* * *

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Part 13 (by baka)

* * *

There was something about the darkness that made it so comfortable, made it seem so much better than the real world, that part of Katana wanted to stay. But then there was always something that brought her out of it and it usually consisted of the word revenge.

It was the place between consciousness and unconsciousness where that word not only kept her coming back, but recent events had caused her to have to think about what would happen once she succeeded. What would she do if she avenged her family? Her train of though consisted of defeating Sojiro and Shishio, but with Shishio already taken care of, she'd come to realize that she had no idea of what she would do after defeating Sojiro. It was as if killing him would somehow kill herself as well. What would happen if she took away the one thing that had kept her alive for year after year? Would she die? Just waste away because she had nothing left to hold on to in the life she was living? Thoughts like that scared her. That's why she'd push them to the deepest depths of her mind and they only resurfaced when she was left alone with her own mind. But what scared her the most was she couldn't decide if she wanted to live or not, if she really cared about dying.

In her mind she couldn't decide if it all being over would be that bad. After all she'd said she was prepared to die many times before, and it was true in most circumstances. She couldn't understand why she was questioning it now. She guessed that the closer you are to death the more terrified you become, but would it be all that bad to want it to stop? But then she'd remember her family. Her family who never thought of thoughts like that, the family that didn't deserve to die. They were all too young, too innocent to die. Her parents deserved to die of old age, quietly and peacefully, after being able to grow old watching their children and grandchildren grow up. Her brother deserved to grow up and finish school. For some odd reason, even though he would never admit it, he liked it, but Katana guessed that was because he was just really smart, going somewhere in life. He always wanted to see the world and all he got to do was see the extent of their village. Her little sister just deserved to grow up, to live, to grow old. She deserved to be able to take her first steps, explore a world that was so new to her before she had to leave it for another.

And Katana, herself, all she wanted was her family back, to be a normal girl, but they took that from her and that always brought her back.

* * *

"Katana? Katana you need to wake up." Misao pleaded, sitting next to the girl that had just the night before seemed to be bleeding to death.

Katana opened her eyes, struggling to adjust to the bright light that was spilling into her room. "Misao could you quit whining. I really don't think that I need a headache added to this."

"Well sorry I care," Misao stated, the temper she was famous for quickly taking hold. "Why is it that you only come here when you are severely ill or injured? And we end up taking care of you? Huh? They have places that specialize in that kind of thing you know. They're called hospitals. HOS-- PIT--- ALS."

"I'm sure Okina will charge me accordingly, so don't worry." Katana said trying to hold back a laugh because is pulled at her stomach uncomfortably.

"Well it's not as if you'll actually pay."

"Ha you owe me Misao and you know it. "

"Yah Yah I know, I remember."

"Where is the old geezer anyway?"

"The last time I saw him, he was arguing with that squirrel of yours. I think he's really off his rocker this time." Misao leaned back and inched open the sliding door a bit. Just far enough for Katana to see, the old man was using exaggerating hand and arm motions, and when Katana looked for his companion, all she saw was a squirrel chittering loudly, using just as big arm motions, sticking his tail straight out.

"Oh gosh…Innen! They're probably arguing about pricing."

"Uh Katana, did you hit your head a bit too hard when you fell? You do realize that that is a squirrel you are talking about?" Misao asked, giving Katana a questioning look.

Not wanting to explain, Katana quickly changed the subject. "Yea I know. So what is wrong with me?"

"Well, we called a doctor and he said that you received a wound to the stomach and ripped your stitches. Nothing all that severe, knowing you at least, but you need good old fashion rest."

"Oh great. Megumi's not going to be happy."

"Katana this is serous! How long do you think you can keep pushing yourself like this? You've been doing it since the day I met you! How long till your body breaks down? Your body won't be able to take much more of this! Hell, I'm surprised you've survived till now!"

"Misao, I'll be fine I promise. Now stop being so serious, it doesn't suit you" Katana said, getting slowly to her feet.

"Well someone has to worry about you…and what are you doing! Did the conversation we just had go in one ear and out the other?"

"Misao, really I'm fine, just going to stretch my legs. I won't be running any marathons, so chill. "

"Katana you're hopeless! I give up! The only way to get through to you is to beat it into you and I really don't want to have to clean up all the blood. So just don't do anything remotely dangerous... or anything you'd usually do... or would want to do. Ok? Promise?"

"I promise" Katana said, holding up her right hand and putting her left behind her back, crossing her fingers.

Misao left and Katana was finally left to wander, mindlessly and aimlessly and of course right into trouble. She'd come upon a small, humble shrine, complete with its very own moron inside. Katana couldn't resist, so she walked right in.

"You know in my opinion, your meditation is just a fancy way of sleeping sitting up." Katana's hope to get a response was crushed. Aoshi just sat there, boringly.

She stuck out her tongue at him, crossed her eyes, made as many weird and distorted faces as she could think of and still nothing. It was only when she tapped her shoe he reacted.

"Shoes don't belong in here." He said in a monotone voice, eyes closed still sitting straight as a board. He was so boring she couldn't understand what Misao found attractive in the man. The only thing Katana wanted out of him was a good fight, but she'd already promised Misao a long time ago that she wouldn't fight him.

"Well if it really bothers you." Katana said, sighing as she pulled off her sandals and threw them toward the door, both sailing perfectly across the room not even a centimeter away from Aoshi's head. But he still sat there, eyes closed. It made Katana feel bad for Misao--she loved a man who couldn't even construct polite sentence structures on a daily basis. He was really getting on her nerves. She liked it when people reacted and she'd never met someone like Aoshi that, well, just didn't react to anything. There could've been a bomb go off down the street and he probably could have cared less. For some reason, he rubbed Katana the wrong way, and she really didn't like that.

"She loves you, ya know."

_Oopsy, I wasn't supposed to say that. If Misao knew I was having this conversation, I'd be worse than dead right now. _But Aoshi reacted in a subtle way; so subtle that Katana wasn't even sure if she really saw it.

"I know that you thing your being noble and all with your whole ' I-won't-love-her-cuz-she-deserves-better' thing, but you're just hurting her more, and Misao really doesn't deserve that. She's practically been through hell because of you. The least you could do is give her a chance. You owe her that much, or at least she deserves that much. I mean, you should be glad that after all you've done, you still have someone like Misao to come back to. Someone who truly loves you, and will no matter what. But I'm guessing that you knew that on some level already.

"Do you really think she'll always be around? She'll give up one day, you know. You'll win, if that's how you want to put it. She'll give up on you and settle for someone else, and yea, I guess they could make her happy, but she'll never be as happy as she _could _be with you. And truthfully, she'll probably end up alone with a ton of cats and an even worse attitude. Is that what you want for her? You want her to end up alone, like you? You decided to isolate yourself, but you're not giving Misao a choice. In my opinion, you really need a dose of reality and need to realize that maybe you like her too. But if that's too close to home for you, then if you want her to be happy, you're going to need to pull your head out of your ass and, oh I don't know, tell her how you feel! Because, no offense, but at the rate you're going, you'll both be dead by the time you get the nerve to say anything that even resembles a complex sentence to her. Well good luck." Katana said, finishing her monologue and getting to her feet. Using her hand to mess up Aoshi's gelled back hair, she happily skipped out of the room. Leaving Aoshi sitting there with his eyes closed, and in her opinion, completely dumbfounded.

* * *

"I hope he didn't fall back asleep during all that." Katana stated, walking back to the Aoi-ya. In her mind, she kept having unique little daydreams about Misao finding out of the conversation she'd just had. _Wow, note to self: stay away from Misao until I'm sure she won't find out. _

"Katana?" Misao asked.

"AHH!" Katana said, jumping a foot in the air.

"Are you ok?" Misao asked, giving her yet another questioning look.

"Oh yes, um... fine... just um... thinking about what you said earlier and I guess I should take a sort of vacation."

"But you just got here and you're--"

"All the better! I won't have to worry about packing."

"Well I guess, but you still have the tab... Katana? Katana?" Misao started turning around looking for the girl who seemed to have just disappeared in front of her. She walked down to Katana's room and found it completely empty besides a hastily written thank you note on the floor, right next to an IOU. "KATANA!"

* * *

Didya like it? ha ha...anywho! Part 14 is planned to come out MUCH sooner (it's shinsei writing it, so she'll ditch hw for this...) Its planned to come out sometime next week...the earliest being this weekend, the lastest being next weekend. Anywho, thanks so much for reading; hope you enjoyed!

Reviews are gladely welcomed and MUCH appreciated!


	14. Chapter 14

Shocking, is it not? See the difference in Shinsei and Baka? (ha ha, I'm just kidding baka...we love you) Anywho, this is Shinsei here, with the next part! yee-haw! (sorry, inner texan coming out there...) I was suddenly really motivated to write, so I just finished this chapter! The next chapter should come out...hmm, sometime...no clue. It's baka, she's lazy...what more can I say? ha ha ha...enjoy the chapter!

**

* * *

Till Death Do Us Part**

Chapter 14 _(by shinsei)

* * *

_

Katana drew in a shaky breath as she creaked open the rotten wood door. The aged door resisted, as if not wanting to open, not wanting her to return after eight long years. But Katana shoved it open anyway and stepped inside the abandoned building. Instantly, she was blasted with a wave of stale, moldy air and a whirlwind of memories flooded through her mind. The very force of the memory wave made her knees buckle and eyes water.

She was home.

* * *

"SOJIROOOOO!" 

The screaming blur whizzed passed Okina and tackled the travel worn Sojiro to the ground.

"Uh…nice to see you too Misao-san," Sojiro smiled up at the girl and she whole-heartedly returned it. She then bounced back to her feet and helped him up as well. Over the girl's shoulder, Sojiro cringed slightly at the death glare he was receiving from Aoshi.

"Soooooo….whatcha doing here Sojiro-kun?" Misao asked, ushering him inside the Aoi-ya.

"Well it's a long story…I'm here in Kyoto with Kenshin and Sano looking for someone…and I thought the Oniwabanshu could help…"

"Who?" Okina asked, calmly offering Sojiro a cup of tea.

"Her name's Katana--"

"KATANA!" Sojiro was nearly knocked back to the ground as the entire Oniwabanshu (minus Aoshi) suddenly jumped at him, bombarding him with questions about Katana.

"I'm guessing you know Katana-san…?" Sojiro managed to say.

"Know her! Of course we know her! She just left less than an hour ago!" Misao exclaimed.

"Really?" Sojiro inquired eagerly. "Where is she now? Do you know where she's headed?"

Misao's eyebrows shot up. "Why do you wanna see her so bad?"

Sojiro, not catching on, shrugged off the question, "Long story. Look, it's really important that I find her as soon as possible…" He trailed off, noticing the sly looks passing between Misao and the other Oniwabanshu.

"Oh, we understand," Omasu giggled, winking at him. Sojiro stared back at the shinobu, completely lost.

"She went north." The entire room jumped at the sound of Aoshi's voice. Sojiro swung his gaze to meet Aoshi's. "She left earlier today and headed north of here, toward Kanson."

Sojiro immediately stiffened, his breath caught in his throat. _She went back there…to the place where her family was slaughtered?

* * *

_

A loud thumping noise brought Katana out of her daze. _This house…this entire village…has been abandoned for eight years! Who could possibly be…_

Katana strode across the room toward the sound, and kicked the door down. The small group of men inside jumped and turned to stare at her, dropping the few valuables they had found and were stuffing into bags.

_How _dare _they! _She thought, her blood boiling, _how dare they come here – to _my _home and defile it! _Katana opened her mouth to give the thugs a piece of her mind, but was cut off from a voice behind her.

"Well, well…what have we here?"

Katana whirled around, her hand flying to her sword, but was knocked to the ground before she had a chance to pull it out. Groaning and clutching her throbbing stomach where she'd been kicked, Katana eased her eyes open to find a tall blonde man glaring down at her. Without another word, he kicked her again and again, over and over on the stomach. After a few moments, he stopped and watched as she coughed up a fair amount of blood on the floor before him. Smirking, the man crouched down and stared her straight in the eyes.

"It's called karma, bitch," the blonde man from the train hissed. He stood again and pulled a kunai knife out from his pocket. " 'What goes around, comes around.' Now its time to get what's coming to you, you little bitch! Payback from the train!"

Katana squeezed her eyes shut and braced her self for the attack…. but it never came.

"I believe Katana-san has been through enough hell to make up for any little grudge you may hold against her."

Katana's eyes flew open in disbelief at the voice that echoed in her ears. Sojiro stood a few feet away from her, his sword blade pressing against the blonde man's neck. Noticing her staring at him, Sojiro offered her a reassuring smile.

The rest happened in a blur. The other men freaked out at the defeat of their leader and fled. The blonde man collapsed and somehow managed to scramble out of the room, leaving Katana in a daze, not really sure what had just happened. All she was sure of was the man she wanted so desperately to kill was now cradling her head in his lap as he examined her injuries.

"W…Why?" Katana managed to choke out with the last of her strength, blacking out before she could hear his answer.

"Because….I don't want you to die."

* * *

"Does she get off on pain or something?" 

Katana blinked her eyes open at the sound of Misao's familiar voice.

"Finally decide to join the living again?" Misao smirked down at Katana as her wounded friend slowly rose to a sitting position.

"How are you feeling?" Katana jumped and turned to find Sojiro looking at her with concern in his eyes.

"F-fine," she stammered, suddenly finding herself embarrassed.

Misao looked at Katana, then Sojiro and back again, a devious grin forming on her face. "Well make yourselves comfy, cuz you're both sleeping in here for the night."

Sojiro and Katana nodded…then caught themselves, the full meaning of Misao's words sinking in. "WHAT!" They both cried in unison.

Misao looked back at the flustered pair innocently. "Well the other rooms here are all full of guests so…seeing as you two both aren't paying…you'll sleep where I put you!"

Sojiro and Katana kept their mouths shut, knowing full well it was useless to argue.

"Here are the futons," Misao said, digging though the nearby closet and tossing out two bundles, which nearly hit Katana as they sailed across the room. "Well, good night then!" She said cheerful, making her way to the door.

"What!" Katana exclaimed, "Why so soon!" _Please don't go. Please don't leave me alone with him. Please please please please please!_

Misao slid the door open and stepped out in the hallway. Turning slightly, she offered the two a wink. "You know what they say! Three's a crowd…especially in a bedroom." The door slid shut, leaving the two alone, Misao's words causing third degree burns on both their cheeks.

Katana quickly got a hold of her self and she whipped out her sword and drew a line across the floor. Sojiro watched her, his confusion showing plainly on his face.

"Cross this line tonight and die," Katana explained simply. "Understand?" Sojiro gulped at the look of seriousness in her face and quickly nodded. As Katana unrolled one of the futons and curled up in it, Sojiro noticed his futon was also over there. On the other side of the line.

"Uh…Katana-san?" Sojiro started quietly. "Uh…my futon is on your side of the line…can I get it? Or can you hand it to me?" Katana merely rolled over facing the wall and ignored him.

Sojiro sighed. The cold floor it was.

* * *

_Ok…she _must_ be asleep by now!_ Sojiro thought, staring at Katana from across the room. For four hours he had sat and waited for the girl to fall asleep so he could cross the line to retrieve his bed. Quietly, Sojiro crawled across the floor and stopped right before he reached the line. 

_Oh please! _He mentally kicked himself. _As if she'd know if I crossed the line while she slept!_ With newfound confidence, Sojiro reached across the line, over Katana's sleeping form, his fingertips brushing the top of the bundled futon.

Suddenly, Katana flipped around on her bed, her sword inched away from Sojiro's face. Sojiro jumped back in surprise, bracing himself for Katana's unleashed fury. After a few tense moments, Sojiro slowly let out his breath and inched back toward Katana, only to find her still sleeping.

Sojiro let out a sigh of relief. He then quickly snatched his futon and scrambled as far away from Katana as possible. Curling up in the warm bed, Sojiro sank into an uneasy sleep. _What a freaky chick…

* * *

_

A little past midnight, a cry of pain snapped Sojiro out of his slumber. He jumped up in his futon and blinked several times, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness around him. Another whimper from across the small bedroom told him the source. Taking a deep breath, Sojiro slowly crawled across the cold wooden floor to where Katana was fitfully sleeping.

He gazed at Katana, wondering if he dared cross the line a second time that night. Surely, she'd kill him this time. Katana whimpered again, this time louder. _Is she faking? Is she testing me to see if I'd actually cross the line?_ Katana's soft whimpers turned into aching groans as she restlessly tossed about in her sleep. _I can't take that chance_, he decided, and bravely crossed the line, taking yet another chance with death that night.

_She soaking with sweat,_ Sojiro thought, gazing down at her unconscious form. Feeling her forehead, he realized she was burning up with a high fever. Acting quickly, he stripped off her blankets and loosened her clothes to allow her to cool down. As he loosed her shirt, he noticed it was soaking wet with blood. _Oh crap…_ he thought, panic rising in him. Without a second thought, he yanked her shirt down the rest of the way and examined her bloodied, bandaged stomach.

He jumped up to the nearby closet and managed to find a few rolls of bandages. Carefully, Sojiro peeled off the dirty bandages and wiped up as much of the blood as he could before gently wrapping the fresh bandages around the wound. Then he pulled her shirt back up a bit, but kept it loose enough so she could cool down. It seemed to work for a moment as Katana's whimpers ceases, but a second later she was shivering and shaking violently with cold.

Desperately, Sojiro tightened her clothes around her again and jumped to his feet, hurried across the room back to the closet and took out all the blankets he could find. Then he covered the extra blankets on her freezing form. Despite all his efforts, Katana seemed to be immune to warmth of the extra blankets. Without thinking, Sojiro threw back the blankets and climbed into the futon next to Katana, pulling her closely against him.

Gradually, Sojiro felt Katana's shaking slow and her body seem to warm up next to his. Sighing, he began to pull away, but Katana's arms locked around him, keeping him close to her. Instantly Sojiro felt his face heat up as Katana snuggled closer to him, mumbling incomprehensibly in her sleep.

After a few more moments of struggling, Sojiro finally gave up trying to resist against Katana's death grip around his waist. He settled back down on the futon, deep in thought.

Sojiro's mind whirled with thoughts. Deep in thought, he didn't realize he was absently stroking Katana's hair. Then he caught himself and felt like bashing his head through a wall.

_What was I doing! It's bad enough that I'm in the same bed as her! Even if I was trying to help her, she'd never believe that…if she were to wake up now…_Nervously, he glanced down at Katana's silent form beside him. _Oh god... please don't wake up…please don't wake up…

* * *

_

Katana yawned and stretched her arms, the early morning sun pouring into the room and bathing her in its warm rays. She began to get out of bed when she noticed a crumbled letter beside her. Curious, she opened it and read. Sighing, she laid it back down and jumped out of bed. _So Sojiro wants to get going back to the Kamiya dojo today…I guess I can't argue with that…_

Katana took a deep breath as she began to get dressed. _And I guess I should thank him…_

_

* * *

_

You like?...or no... anywho! At the very end, Katana is refering back to when Sou-chan saved her from the thugs at her house...she doesnt know that he took care of her the night before when she had a fever. Just thought I'd clear that up...hmm, nothing else I guess! Hope you liked it! Please review and tell me (us) what you think! Thanks! Oh-- and thanks to all you awesome peeps who reviewed last chappie!

Ok, one more thing! Big thanks and many hugs to the peeps who added this story to their favs! WE LOVE YOU!


	15. Chapter 15

/claps for baka/  
amazing.  
offer baka a cookie as a reward and see how fast she writes her part?  
wow.  
still amazed at her speed since the the previous part came out.  
cookies do wonders.  
_wonders._

hope yall enjoy reading baka's record-time-speed part!

**

* * *

Till Death Do Us Part**

Part 15 (by baka)

* * *

The morning light was barely beginning to illuminate the Inn when Misao woke up. Too restless to continue sleeping, she got dressed and decided to go check on Katana and Sojiro.

_I didn't hear anything that sounded like someone being killed last night, so they should both be ok, _Misao thought turning the corner and ending up right in front of their room's sliding door. _Here goes nothing._

Misao slowly and carefully inched open the door until she could get a clear view of the room. She quickly glanced to both sides of the room and at first thought that there was only one person in the room. But she quickly realized that the mound she thought was one person was actually both Sojiro and Katana.

Misao's mouth dropped in complete astonishment. She was seeing something that she never thought she'd see in her entire life. Katana had her arms wrapped around Sojiro and he had his encircling her protectively with her using one of his arms as a pillow.

_Holy crap! It worked! _Misao thought as she quickly shut the door and walked at a fast pace down the hall._ Why did that work? Who cares, they looked so cute. Wow, if there's hope for Katana then maybe there's still hope for me and Aoshi. _Turning another corner, Misao accidentally ran into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry…Aoshi-sama. Oh um…good morning Aoshi-sama" Misao managed to stutter before quickly leaving his sight. _On second though maybe not, ugh. Great Misao, he probably thinks you're a stuttering little kid now. Just great.

* * *

_

After finally getting dressed, Katana decided that it would be good if she stretched her legs. Leaving her room, she began to hear Misao scream. _Someone really needs to tell her that screaming is really annoying this early in the morning._

"Should you really be screaming when you have so many other guests?" Katana asked yawning.

"What other guests?" Okina asked, looking towards the other rooms as Misao began to inch towards the end of the hall.

"The one's Misao told me were here last-- MISAO!" Katana screamed, grabbing the other girl before she could get away. "You said you were packed last night! How could you do that to me? I can't believe you made me suffer through sharing the same room as _him_ when you had a ton of others!"

Okina began taking a few steps backwards, not too far, just far enough so that he would be out of harm's way if worse came to worse. And when it came to women you never knew. A squirrel that was sitting on his shoulder began chittering in his ear. " I know, this should be interesting. Oh, no thank you," Okina said when the squirrel thrust an acorn into his face. Innen just shrugged as if to say 'that's fine; more for me'.

"Well, it's not like you were going to actually PAY for anything, so you really have no right to complain! And besides you and I both know you didn't have to _suffer_ through anything last night! I mean you looked pretty comfortable this morning." Misao stated, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"What in the world are you talking about Misao?" Katana asked confused

_Wait, is she just playing dumb or does she really have no idea? She has to know, right? But she looks like she really has no idea, but that impossible...she has to know. I mean, I did see them...I wasn't still sleeping or anything like that. _Misao thought.

"Misao, what are you talking about?" Katana asked again, crossing her arms across her chest.

_To tell or not to tell, _Misao thought."Oh, Sojiro is going to catch the afternoon train back to Kenshin's today," Misao blurted out. _Better him than me._

"Ok...I guess I should be heading back too. I think I might have overstayed my welcome." Katana stated. _Since when have I been worried about being polite? And I don't need to go back. Why did I just say that? Is it because of him? No, no it's not him, I need to talk to Kenshin about why he didn't tell me about Shishio. It just happens to be that leaving on the same train is convenient for me too._

"Well if you want to go, then you might want to hurry. You slept pretty late and the train is going to be leave in a few hours," Misao said, "and I'm guessing that you need to restock, am I right?"

"You know me all too well Misao... all too well," Katana said smiling. Both girls happily left the room as if that hadn't even been fighting.

"I know, I know. Women!" Okina said, shaking his head, "There are some things that man were meant to understand but women aren't one of them." Turning in the opposite direction, he and the squirrel began talking once again.

* * *

"Katana hurry! You're going to miss the train!" Misao said, pushing the other girl through the crowd rather rudely until they made it to the train station platform. "Take good care of yourself this time ok? And maybe next time you come visit, you could come WITHOUT being injured or sick. Just, I don't know, healthy for once."

"Ok I'll try. But hey, you know you could always come see me. Break out of that whole home wife thing you have going." Katana stated.

"I do _not_ have the home wife thing going! I mean, I'm not even married." Misao argued passionately.

"Sure Misao," Katana said sarcastically. "You know there's a whole big world out there just waiting for us to terrorize. Maybe...it could be like old times someday."

"I know, but you know what I'm waiting for." Misao stated sadly.

"That's exactly what I mean. Maybe if you left, he'd realize that he really does need you, and if not, that's his loss. There are a ton of other people in the world. Ok, I know you don't like to hear that. Well then how about this... maybe leaving for a little while will put things into perspective for you so that you know that you're doing what you want, you know." Katana said seriously as she stepped up onto the train.

"Hey! Have a safe trip and don't get hurt!" Misao screamed as the train began to pull away from the tracks.

"Make sure Okina takes care of Innen for me ok!" Katana screamed back before the trains left the station completely.

"OK!" Misao replied running along aside the train as it left the station.

* * *

Katana had ended up getting into the second to last passenger car. The car with Sojiro in it and, ironically, he was the only person in it. He was sitting in a far corner and looked rather shocked to see her on the train. Without saying a word, she chose a seat in the middle of the car on the opposite side from Sojiro. Every few minutes she would notice him looking at her but that was only because they both seemed to look in each others direction at the same time.

_Ok, come on Katana! This isn't that hard...all you have to do is walk over there and say thank you. Two words, that's it. Two measly words. You've done harder things before, just go do it. NOW! _Katana thought and before she could lose her nerve she got up and walked to the seat right in front of Sojiro and sat down. She opened her mouth, but before she could force the words out of her mouth, a man walked in wearing what looked like a conductor's uniform.

"TICKETS! I need to see you tickets please." He asked, stopping right in front of the two. Sojiro quietly produced his out of a pocket, but Katana had to pull out a worn brown wallet to get her ticket. She handed it to the man and waited quietly as he tore off his end and handed it back to her.

Sojiro couldn't keep his eyes off the wallet he saw Katana with. _There's no way. That's not possible. How could she have my wallet unless…Unless that squirrel. But that's...how could that squirrel have gotten all the way to the Kamiya Dojo?_

Waving her wallet in front of his face, Katana brought Sojiro out of his thoughts. "Do you need something? Hello? Anyone in there? Ugh, fine! Ignore me, but I need to say something to you. tha…… Thank……. THANK YOU" Katana finally managed to spit out.

"For what?" Sojiro asked, _Does she mean last night? Crap, what is she talking about? Is she trying to catch me off guard?_

"For saving me from those bandits," She answered "What else did you think I meant? Wait, does this have something to do with what Misao was saying?"

_Crap! Did Misao tell her? Did Misao even see anything? It'll be fine, I should just go to another car before we get into a fight. _Sojiro thought. "It's nothing, never mind," Sojiro said getting up and heading towards the back of the car.

"What? Hey where are you going? What happened that I missed?" Katana kept asking him until they somehow managed to get through the very last car.

Walking through the last door, Sojiro realized that he had just got onto the baggage car, but all Katana realized was that he couldn't go anywhere else.

"Katana don't shut the-" Sojiro began, but before he could finish Katana had already slammed the door shut. "door."

"What's wrong?" Katana asked as Sojiro went to try the door knob but couldn't open it.

"You have just locked us into the baggage car." Sojiro stated, wondering how his luck had gotten so bad.

"Well sorry, it's not like I meant to or anything. If you had just waited instead of trying to get away from me none of this would have happened! Its all your fault!"

"All my fault! You shut the door!"

"Yeah well what's so secretive you couldn't tell me, huh?"

_Change the subject Sojiro. Change the subject if you want to get out of this alive' _Sojiro thought. "Where did you get that wallet?" He asked, since it was the first thing to come to his mind.

"What does my wallet have to do with anything?" Katana asked apprehensively. "Fine. Innen gave it to me."

"Innen? The squirrel?" Sojiro asked.

"Yes the squirrel." Katana answered and after that, Sojiro began to chuckle to himself, then laugh.

"Hey what's so funny? I asked what's so funny!" Katana said, throwing a knife towards Sojiro who, even while laughing, ducked in time.

"It's a long story." Sojiro finally stopped laughing long enough to say.

"Well, where am I going to go? I'm trapped on a moving train. And we have a while before I think they'll realize we're back here." Katana said with pleading eyes.

"Ok fine, you want the story here it goes. It all started when I was staying at this one Inn and I stepped on a thorn……." Sojiro began and continued to tell her the story of his journey to get to Kenshin's.

It was a rather embarrassing story for Sojiro to tell, but at certain moments he didn't seem to care. Moments when Katana laughed and smiled whole-heartedly, listening to his story. She especially liked it when he began telling her about the squirrels. During that time, while trapped in the baggage car, it seemed that Katana forgot about her past, forgot she hated Sojiro and she just seemed to be a normal girl. Even as he was telling it, he could feel a smile creeping onto his own face as he watched such a beautiful girl laugh and smile like he'd never seen before.

Time passed rather quickly for the two, and before Sojiro could even finish his story the train had stopped, but they were still trapped until two men opened up the door and found both of them inside the car.

"Thank God." Katana stated when she finally was able to put her feet on solid ground again. But as soon as she stepped off the train, it was as if she stepped back into reality and she was consumed by guilt. _How could I have been so happy with him? He killed my family. I hate him. I should hate him. Gosh why can't I hate him? _Katana thought as she and Sojiro started to trek back to the Kamiya dojo.

Sojiro seemed to sense a change in her mood so he kept quiet, not really sure of what to do. She seemed completely different, sadder from the girl she was on the train. He wanted to make her smile and laugh again but he wasn't quite sure how.

It was pretty late when they finally made it back to the dojo. Nobody seemed to be around. The first person they ran into was Yahiko.

"Katana you're back!" Yahiko screamed, running over towards her.

"Don't even think about it Yahiko. You know I'm not into the whole hugging thing. And besides, should you really be yelling? Aren't other people asleep?" Katana asked

"Not anymore, after hearing that pip squeak yell" Sano stated, coming into view. "It's good to have you back Katana. Been pretty boring around here without you. Well at least after the first few days. Megumi was pretty pissed at the beginning and that was fun to watch."

As Yahiko and Sano began arguing once again, everyone else began to filter into the front yard of the dojo.

"Amaya-chan, you shouldn't have left like that." Kenshin stated, once again resuming the role of her big brother. "You were much too injured to leave like you did."

"I'm fine Kenshin, don't worry." Katana mumbled.

"Oh but he did worry Katana. We all did. Next time you want to do something stupid, think about what you want to do, think about it some more, and then DON'T do it." Kaoru said sounding rather angry. "But I guess you're going to need a place to sleep. Your room's still the same, and your's too Sojiro. Now it's late and I'm tired. So I'm going to bed."

"Yeah ugly, you need your beauty sleep, although I don't think that even that will help you." Yahiko smarted off, but was quickly hit in the head by one of Kaoru's shoes.

Life was just the same at the Kamiya dojo, and that thought made a small smile creep across Katana's face. Sometimes it was good to have a place to come back to that never changed, even if it could be a bit weird at times.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please review if you want! See you next time!


	16. Chapter 16

Hey people! Shinsei here...sorry it took so long to get this one out. I had a major chemistry project and 2 or 3 big tests...basic school crap. Anywho, here it is, ch. 16! Yea!...yeah. Ummm...hope yall like this one. It was fun to write...ha ha. dont I always say that? ha.

haven't done this in a while...DISCLAIMER!  
nope, sorry, we still dont own Rurouni Kenshin, but we're working on it! (ha ha)

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**Till Death Do Us Part**

Part 16 (by shinsei)

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"WHAT!"

Kaoru cringed slightly at Katana's screech, but Megumi remained calm.

"You heard us," Megumi said, her voice icy. "This is Kaoru's home, so what she says goes. And if she wants you to be more ladylike, then you have to do it."

"Like hell I do!" Katana shot back. "There's no fucking--"

SMACK!

"A lady does not say such words!" Megumi snapped, bending down to pick up the shoe she had thrown at Katana's face.

Megumi's violent act seemed to boost Kaoru's confidence. "Yes," she said, "I suggest you start acting more like a lady than a boy Katana!"

Katana wiped the blood from her nose. _Shit…looks like I'm not getting out of this one…whatever. How bad can it be?_

"Fine," Katana said dully, not knowing the trouble she had just gotten herself into.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kaoru asked.

"Of course," Megumi answered confidently. "Tanabata is tomorrow…and besides, we'll be doing Katana a favor. It's about time she started acting like a girl."

Kaoru looked doubtful for a moment. "Okay…but I meant was letting her cook a good idea. I don't really trust her with fire…"

As if on cue, a loud explosion sounded through the air, and the ground shook slightly. A thick cloud of black smoke was pouring out into the sky from the direction of the kitchen.

Megumi and Kaoru exchanged a glance, wondering what sort of trouble they had gotten themselves into.

* * *

"Here." Katana said roughly, slamming the plates of food down on table. Everyone stared at the food before them. Or what remained of it. Instead of tasty, mouthwatering dishes they had expected for lunch, Kenshin and the gang had to make due with the black charcoal mess before them.

"Are we supposed to eat this crap?" Sano asked bluntly.

"I think you overcooked it just a bit…" Kenshin commented quietly.

"Well what do you expect when she blew up the damn oven!" Sano exclaimed.

Katana ground her teeth and she yearned to yank out her swords and behead the lot of them. "How was I supposed to know how much oil was needed to start the fire?" She demanded defensively.

"You used six bottles. Six. Nothing in your mind told you maybe that was a _little_ much?" Megumi asked sarcastically.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Yahiko said suddenly, jumping in to Katana's defense. He turned to look sympathetically at her. "There's nothing wrong with sucking at cooking. I'm sure even this burned stuff is better then the crap Kaoru makes."

Kaoru launched her self at Yahiko, wrapping her hands around his neck and began strangling the life out of him. Unfortunately for Sano, who was seated next to Yahiko, he was also knocked to the ground, and got caught up in the fight. Of course Kenshin and Sojiro jumped in, attempting to separate the three, but only ended up getting caught in the brawl themselves.

Katana raised her eyebrow. A five-way brawl, and she wasn't involved? Just for the hell of it, Katana leapt into the fight and joined the fun.

* * *

"Lesson number two," Kaoru said, holding the icepack to the lump on her forehead. "Laundry."

Katana sighed and gazed at the towering load of dirty laundry before her. "You're kidding right?"

Megumi, the only uninjured one, glared at her. "You failed the cooking lesson miserably and started a fight. This is punishment."

"I did not start it!" Katana argued.

"You're sucky food started it," Kaoru put in, starting to feel dizzy. "This stuff better be done in an hour."

Before Katana could argue further, the two slave drivers walked off, leaving Katana to complete the horrid chore before her. "One hour, huh?" she mused aloud as she began to drag the dirty load to the river.

"How do I do this?" she mumbled, dumping the clothes in the river. As soon as the clothes made contact with the water, the current swept them away downstream.

"Crap!" Katana immediately whipped out her kunai knifes and threw them at the clothes. Fortunately, her aim was right on target and she managed to pin every cloth to the opposite side of the river.

Katana hurried over the bridge and collected the bundles of clothing. _Good enough,_ she thought. _They're wet…and look kinda clean…Kaoru and Megumi will never know the difference!

* * *

_

"What the heck did you _do_!"

"What?" Katana asked innocently as Kaoru stared in disbelief at her still-dirty laundry that was now also filled with holes.

"Ok Katana…this isn't working…chores obviously aren't the best place to start," Megumi said carefully. "Looks like we'll start with etiquette."

_Crap.

* * *

_

"Here."

Katana took the small, lightweight book from Megumi and carefully placed it on the top of her head. Once it was perfectly balanced, she took a few slow, cautious steps forward.

"Very good Katana," Megumi smiled, watching Katana walk around the yard, picking up speed as she went. "Now lets go to level two." She produced a slightly bigger book. Katana switched out the two books and with just as much ease, strode around the yard perfectly. Kenshin, Sano, Yahiko, Kaoru, and Sojiro nodded their approval.

"Not bad…" Megumi mused. "Looks like it's time for level three."

Katana smirked. "This should be a snap."

Megumi mirrored her smirk. Behind her back she pulled out a huge book, looking almost the same size as a dog. A very large dog.

Katana gulped. It took both Megumi and Kaoru to heave the colossal volume up and over her head. With a thud, the two dropped the book on Katana's head, whose knees buckled under the weight.

Slowly and carefully, she took a few shaky steps forward. At the shift in weight as she stepped, the book pitched forward. Katana instantly ran forward in an attempt to keep the book balanced. However, the book swayed backward and forward again and again, taking Katana with it each time. Soon Katana was running around the yard, struggling to steady the book.

Keeping all her concentration on the rocking book on her head, Katana didn't pay attention to where she was running around. Sojiro, who was doubled over with laughter along with the others at the sight of Katana's balancing act, didn't see the girl heading straight toward him until the impact, which sent them both to the ground. Katana's quick reflexes sent her rolling across the dirt just as the volume slammed down toward the ground. Sojiro, however, was not so lucky, and the gigantic book dropped right on his face.

* * *

"Tea ceremonies are very important," Megumi droned on to Katana. "This is your third lesson. We've taken the time to round up everyone and have a little tea ceremony for you."

"Oh, you shouldn't have," Katana said sarcastically. Megumi ignored her comment and handed the teapot to the grumbling girl.

"Now be careful!" Megumi warned. "That tea is boiling hot!"

"Yeah, yeah," Katana muttered as she made her way over to the table where the rest of the gang was seated, patiently waiting for her.

Megumi watched with a critical eye as Katana slowly poured the tea into Kaoru's cup, then Kenshin's cup, then Sano's, Yahiko's and finally Sojiro's.

"No!" Megumi yelped suddenly and yanked Sojiro's cup away from him just as he was about to take a sip. "You did Sojiro's wrong. Do it over."

Katana ground her teeth and slowly repoured Sojiro's tea.

"Do you want the tea to get cold before it even gets in the cup?" Megumi demanded, taking the cup once again from Sojiro as he was about to drink.

Katana's hands shook from anger as she all but dumped the tea into his cup for the third time.

"What's wrong with you!" Megumi snapped, snatching Sojiro's cup again before he had a chance to drink.

"To hell with this!" Katana screeched, throwing the teapot at Megumi. Megumi dodged, but poor Sojiro behind her ended up getting drenched in the boiling hot tea. He jumped up with a yelp, and was soon running around the room with Kaoru and Kenshin on his heels, attempting to dunk him in a tub of cold water.

Katana nervously glanced over at Megumi, and by the look on the older woman's face, she could tell she had failed her third test miserably.

* * *

_The Next Day _

"I hoped it wouldn't have to come to this…" Megumi sighed, clutching the bundle of green cloth to her chest.

Kaoru gave her a bewildered glance. "I thought you wanted to do this from the start."

Megumi ignored her. "Is Katana in the bath yet?"

Kaoru nodded. "And I told her we'd bring her clothes in for her after we washed them."

Megumi smirked. "Good job. Oh…and how's Sojiro?"

"He'll be fine. Poor guy…Katana really is out to get him."

Megumi nodded her agreement. "Ok, let's do this." Kaoru nodded and the two quietly tiptoed down the hallway toward the bathroom. In the same silent manner, they slid the door open and slipped the forest green cloth in the door. They waited, until they heard Katana slowly climb out of the tub and dry herself off. The two heard her footsteps creak across the floor and the gently swoosh of cloth against the ground. A slight pause, then…

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The door burst open and Katana, dressed only in her towel, stormed out, her face red and the green cloth griped tightly in her hand.

"What the hell is this?" She demanded, shaking the green kimono in the two girls' faces.

Kaoru smirked. "Your clothes for Tanabata. It's today, remember?"

Katana opened her mouth, but before she could say another word, the four guys appeared behind Megumi and Kaoru.

"What's wrong Amaya-chan?" Kenshin asked in concern.

He was the only one who could speak. The other three stared at her, and Katana soon realized why. She was clad only in a small white, wet towel, which was hanging loosely around her body, showing off more than she cared too. Instantly her face turned bright red.

Megumi smirked at her. "It's the kimono…or you can go to the festival in that towel."

Without another word, Katana shoved past the group and stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

The door flung open with a bang, and Katana stomped out. She wore the green kimono that matched perfectly with her eyes, and her black hair hung down to her waist. She screamed every curse she knew in her mind at Kaoru and Megumi.

"Katana?"

Katana whirled around to find Sojiro smiling behind her. "What?" she demanded rudely, not really in the mood to talk.

Sojiro didn't reply, but continued to stare at her.

"What?" she asked again. "Stop staring at me!" She threw a few concealed kunai knives at him.

Sojiro easily caught, then blushed slight. "Oh…sorry. I was…just thinking…" he paused, taking a deep breath. "Katana…you look very beautiful today."

Katana froze, and, to her frustration, felt her face growing hot. "Uh…t-thanks…" she said lamely. An awkward silence stretched between them.

Sojiro cleared his throat. "Well, uh…the others are waiting…ready to go to the festival?"

Katana nodded, wanting to be anywhere but there at that moment. "Sure…it's not like the day can get any worse."

Oh, how wrong she was.

* * *

Ok, that's it for this part! Hope yall liked it...sorry for the sou-chan abuse...lol. anywho, see yall next part! Please review! Thanks! 


	17. Chapter 17

Hello dear readers, this is Baka, of course. This is my first note -or whatever you call- it to you all. Well first of all, thank you to all those who reviewed. And second, I hope you enjoy this caz I'm writing it on New Years Eve (such a great way to spend the holiday, don't you think?). Although I don't have much choice since Shinsei gave me 2 choices: Finish my part by Jan. 2 or die a very painful death. Anywho, it's shinsei's job toedit and post this, so don't blame me if she takesa while to post. Well anyway, ta ta for now and pleaze read and review! And oh yes, HAPPY NEW YEAR! May it be a great one!

Heh heh, this is shinsei folks. I am SO SORRY i took so long to post this next chapter. I had to edit it and make a bunch of changes, and I had so little time to do all of that so it took a while. SOOOORRY! To make it up to you, I promise to hurry up with my next part and have it out ASAP!

**

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**

Till Death Do Us Part

Part 17 _(by baka)

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_

Tanabata. Katana could remember celebrating the holiday with her family, which surprised her because it had been such a long time ago. Those memories brought back many happy thoughts, but also dark ones. Thoughts that she didn't want to think about but kept pulsating in the back of her mind.

"Katana, come on. I believe everyone is waiting on us so that they can eat." Sojiro stated, drawing Katana from her thoughts and reminding her that he was standing quite close to her.

"I'm supposed to care?" Katana asked. "You go ahead, I'll be there in a minute." Sojiro looked at her a moment longer and then continued to the front of the dojo where Kaoru had decided to set up dinner for the celebration.

Katana wandered down the hall for a while before she noticed a pile of Sano's things just lying on the floor. "Lazy ass," She mumbled, giving the pile a kick. As she kicked it, she heard an unexpected clinking sound and a bottle hidden within the belongings rolled across the hallway floor.

_What's this_, she asked herself as she picked up the bottle and removed the lid. A substantial whiff of alcohol answered her question. _Well I guess Sano planned on having a good time tonight_, Katana thought, as she was about to replace the bottles lid. _Finder's Keepers right? Today's been crappy. Yesterday wasn't any better, if not worse. Don't I deserve a good time?_

Without further thought Katana took a large gulp and winced a little as the liquid burned down her throat. Not feeling any different, she replaced the bottle's lid but instead of placing it back with Sano's things she hid it beneath her kimono.

"Amaya-chan, it's time to eat. Are you coming?" Kenshin asked, coming up from behind and startling her.

"That depends. Was Kaoru anywhere near the kitchen?" Katana joked, feeling more at ease around Kenshin, as she usually did.

"No," Kenshin laughed. "I can assure you Kaoru-dono did _not_ help at all with the cooking, but she did do a lot of work for this by herself. So Amaya, do you think that just for tonight you could try acting… well not try to kill Sojiro? Kaoru-dono tried very hard to make this a joyous occasion. Please? For me?" Kenshin pleaded, looking down on Katana with puppy dog eyes that seemed to consume much of his face.

"Yes. I mean, I will try and be civilized," Katana said, smiling as Kenshin began pushing her from behind.

"Now we mustn't keep Kaoru-dono and the others waiting! The food will get cold, and I believe that they are waiting to see you in that kimono of yours."

"Kenshin--" She began but was cut off by Sano's complaints of 'I'm hungry.'

"God Katana, took you long enough," Sano complained as he began stuffing his mouth full of food.

"You could have started without me," Katana replied, reaching for a rice cake.

"No, we have to wait for family," Kaoru stated simply, "And Katana, you really do look lovely." Katana nearly choked on her rice, but she wasn't sure if it was the family part of what Kaoru said or the fact that some else had complemented her on her clothes that caused it.

"Yes you do. Who would have known there was such potential beneath all of that dirt and grim?" Megumi asked rudely. Quickly after that statement, a large pile of rice somehow managed to land on Megumi's hair, and it slowly began to fall down her face. Instead of returning fire, Megumi retaliated by glaring at the younger girl with one of her famous 'Go to hell' looks. Katana merely looked innocently towards her, which only caused Megumi to get madder. Kenshin loudly clearing his throat broke their staring contest.

"Well… uh… Katana I think that you look very nice, um very pretty. Not that you don't look nice usually. It's just--," Yahiko babbled as his face grew redder and redder.

"What the runt means is you pretty nice to look at usually, but today you look damn fine. Although I have to say I liked the towel better," Sano cut in and shortly after seemed to begin choking on his food.

Sojiro, who was sitting right next to him, began hitting him roughly on the back.  
"Choking Sano? Here let me help you. That's what happens when you eat so fast." The way Sano continued to look at Sojiro suggested that food was not the cause of his cough.

Dinner continued, but was surrounded by tension. Megumi was glaring at Sano and Katana; Katana was feeling more and more uncomfortable with her attire and Sojiro seemed, at least to some degree upset about something.

After the meal ended, the table cleared off, and the sun was beginning to set, Kaoru appeared with a box of paper and pens. "Ok now everyone it's time to make our wishes for Tanabata, so get a piece of paper and pen." Everyone grabbed a piece of paper obediently and began writing their wish and folding their paper into the shape of a small boat.

_Stupid piece of paper! Why won't you fold right? Don't you see how everyone else's is making nice little boats? Don't you want to be one?_ She asked the paper mentally after another failed attempt. _Well I wouldn't want to be a boat either. I guess I just got the smart one didn't I? You don't want to be dunked in water then set on fire do you? Oh great now I'm talking to a friggin' piece of paper. Geeze just to add to my trouble. I'm loosing my mind._

"Do you need some help?" Sojiro asked, reaching for Katana's paper.

"Yeah, I guess I do. I was never really good at this. My brother," Katana began as Sojiro gave her lifeless piece of paper a boat like shape, "Always helped me--" Katana stopped and slowly refocused on her surroundings. "But who cares about some stupid paper boat anyway?" She asked suddenly, rising quickly and knocking the boat out of Sojiro's hand.

As Katana rushed off, Sojiro bent down and gingerly picked up her boat, like a young child picks up something made of glass; holding it extremely carefully afraid that the slightest movement might break it.

_

* * *

'My brother always helped me!' God Katana, you're such an idiot. Your brother's been dead for years! And here you are enjoying yourself with his murderer. God, I am such a traitor, Katana's thoughts screamed at her. Her throat began to hurt as she held back sobs that threatened to consume her. All the painful thoughts and memories were surging within her beyond her control._

Taking the bottle from her kimono, she took a few gulps hoping that the liquid would make her throat hurt a bit less.

"Aww Katana, cheer up! It's a holiday! You're supposed to be enjoying yourself, not being Miss Doom and Gloom." Sano came up from behind her and rambled on, attempting to cheer her up. "Here, come on. I'll show you something that will cheer you up. A guy I know gave me a few things to make the celebration more eventful." He began, leading Katana to his room.

"What are they?" She asked with genuine curiosity and a realization that her cheeks felt slightly numb.

"There!" He stated revealing a rather large stash of fireworks. "And don't worry; they are perfectly safe if used correctly."

"And you know how to use them correctly Sano? You've never been all that great with instructions you know." Katana plainly stated.

"How hard can it be?" Sano asked with a smile a little boy has when he has just stolen a few firecrackers from his parents and was going to use them, even if he didn't know how.

"I get to use some right?" Katana began pleading, soon getting the same look on her face.

"Sure. Now come on; the others are going to miss us. We're supposed to be heading down to the river about now to set off the boats." The two quickly covered up Sano's stash and walk rather hurriedly towards the others as if they expected to get caught at any moment.

* * *

As they arrived at the river, they could see other people that had gathered and already were setting their boats off in the dark river water. It reminded Katana of the night sky, all the shining boats were the stars and the dark water was the space between them. But instead of staying still, the stars floated throughout the sky as if the milky way had somehow come to life and was flowing throughout the vastness of space. The beauty of it all was so breathtaking it saddened Katana to know that she could not contribute to the illusion.

"Katana?" Sojiro asked, coming up to her carrying something. "I thought you might want this back. I'm sorry I accidentally dropped it." Sojiro smiled, his eyes looking upon her with uncertainty. In his hands, he held her tiny little boat.

She slowly picked it out of his hand, walked over to the rivers edge, and gently placed it in the slow moving water, lighting it aflame as she did. She watched as it was swept into the current and became one of the many lights on the river.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Sojiro asked after he'd let his boat go.

"Yes. Yes it is." Katana mumbled pushing past him and running as fast as she could away from him. Tears were threatening to overflow in her eyes. _He can't be that nice of a person. He can't be--_

"Amaya-chan!" Kenshin said, grabbing her shoulders to stop her from running. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong! Sojiro's what's wrong! He took away everything I ever cared about and now he's-- Why does he have to be this way Kenshin! Why can't he be like he was before? Why can't he just be evil?" Katana cried into Kenshin's arms.

Kenshin sighed and gently rubbed her back like the brother she saw him as. "Life's not that simple Amaya-chan, no matter how bad we want it to be. People aren't perfect. They make mistakes, take the wrong path, and sometimes do things they regret their entire life. Then sometimes, they realize that they've made a mistake and try to change. Sojiro's done that Amaya-chan. He's trying. He has started on a long road of repentance for his crimes. He knows he can never change the past, but he is trying to make it so the people he's hurt can forgive him; so he can help others to repay the world for what he has done to it." Kenshin told her soothingly.

"But why should he be forgiven? He's a murderer." Katana asked between tears.

"In my lifetime Amaya-chan, I have killed more people than you could possibly imagine. Does that mean I deserve to die?" Kenshin asked logically.

"You're a good person Kenshin. You've helped tons of people. Your not like him--"

"I'm exactly like him, but I'm trying to right the wrongs I have done day by day just as he is. He deserves a chance Amaya-chan. Just give him a chance. Perhaps that is why you survived…to help him along the road he's embarked on."

"No Kenshin, you're wrong. I survived to be his Grim Reaper," Katana stated before breaking down into sobs again. "Why did I survive Kenshin? Why do I have to be the one to carry on their vengeance?"

"You don't have to Amaya-chan. Your family would have wanted you to be happy, not consumed with a quest for revenge that will destroy you. Are you not happier when you let your past stay in the past? It is good to learn from your past, but if you hold on to it too tightly, it will destroy you Amaya-chan. Just let it go."

Pulling away from Kenshin, Katana began to walk away. "I'm just going for a walk Kenshin. I'll meet you back at the dojo later. I need to clear my head." She left, leaving Kenshin in the noisy crowd behind her.

* * *

A while after visiting the river, Sanosuke went to his room to get something to make Kaoru's party a bit more enjoyable…at least enjoyable in his opinion. Walking into his room, he stumbled over something that clanked across the floor.  
_  
So that's where it got to,_ Sano thought, picking up a bottle from the floor. Looking at it with a puzzled face, her shook it and realized that it was completely empty. _Hey who drank all of it? And they didn't even leave any for me. Jerk. Oh well, they'll sure have one hell of a hangover in the morning. That stuff knocks even some of the best drinkers on their ass.  
_  
Walking over to where he and Katana had hidden the fireworks, he noticed something was different. _I thought I had more of these… oh great, Katana's out to get Sojiro again. And I thought tonight would be boring._

* * *

After the events at the river, Sojiro was still trying to figure out what he did wrong while walking around the back yard of the dojo. Hearing an unusual snap underneath his foot, he bent down and picked up a small rod-shaped object that was attached to a string, along with many others like it. He noticed that it smelled a lot like gun powder…then Katana called out.

"Sojiro I wouldn't stand over there if I were you. I'm not quite sure what these things do exactly."

Noticing her voice did not sound as it usually did, he turned toward her just in time to see a lit fuse heading his way. As it came to be about a foot in front of him, it connected with one of the first rod-shaped objects. That connection was followed by many loud pops and cracks that sounded exactly like gun fire. The ground seemed to explode around him and from a distance he appeared to be jumping around doing some kind of hilarious dance to avoid the tiny explosions under his feet.

"What--" _CRACK!_ "--the--" _POP!_ "--hell!" _CRACK!_ He screamed while dancing around to avoid his feet from exploding.

Katana, a safe distance away, was rolling on the ground with laughter.

As the explosions slowly came to a stop, Sojiro stormed over towards Katana, feet slightly singed. "What the crap was that!" He demanded to Katana, who was still laughing, although no longer on the ground.

"I think the package said 'firecrackers'. Weren't they cool! Hahahaha! Wow Sojiro, you sure dance funny." She stated in a slurred voice, beginning to mimic Sojiro's earlier movements.Sojiro's face began turning red. " I was not dancing! You set those firepopers and -- Are you drunk?"

Katana looked at him a moment, ceasing her jumping movements. Then, truly appeared to think. "I don't--" _HICCUP_ "--think so." _HICCUP_. "No," She began, jabbing a finger right in Sojiro's face, causing him to lean back so he wouldn't get poked in the eye. "I'm not drunk!"

Her attempt at being serious failed miserably, but to Sojiro, she looked incredible cute trying, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't laugh at me!" She pouted, sticking her bottom lip out .

"I'm not laughing at you Katana," He said, putting his arm around her shoulder and steering her towards the dojo. He mildly wondered why no one seemed to be concerned with all the commotion. "Now come on, let's get you inside."

"But I don't wanna to go inside," She began before they heard a familiar cracking noise, though not quite the same, but very similar. Breaking away from Sojiro's grasp, Katana ran towards the sound's source.

"Dear Lord help me," Sojiro mumbled before going after her.

The source of the sound was Sano holding a tube that shot out bright lights.

"Wow pretty," Katana whispered, completely amazed."There you are. Hey, what's the deal with stealing half my fireworks?" Sano growled, motioning to a pile about shin high.

"Can I see that Sano?" Katana asked, motioning to the tube. "What are they?"

"They're called Roman Candles." Sano stated, carefully handing over the tube to Katana's eager hands. "Now be careful. Aim towards the sky so you don't hit anyone--" But it was too late for Sano's warnings.

"Sojiro!" Katana screamed, aiming the tube right at him. "Duck!"Looking much like deer in headlights, Sojiro watched ats one of the fireworks shot out in a bright flash of color. He realized only a few moments before it was to late that it would be a good idea to move.

Katana laughed joyfully as Sojiro began running through the yard dodging fireworks aimed at him. "Oopsy." she laughed, realizing that she was going to miss Sojiro and unfortunately hit the remaining fireworks in Sano's possession.

"GET DOWN!" Sano screamed just as the bright light connected with his pile of fireworks.

Instead of just one large explosion, there were several loud cracks and pops, whistling and hissing sounds. For a few moments, the entire yard was illuminated by several different colors.

Realizing that Katana was still standing watching all the explosions, Sojiro scrambled to his feet and tackled her to the ground just a large firework exploded over their heads. Lucky only their hair was singed.

Once the fireworks were completely burned out, the three slowly rose to there feet in time to see Kenshin and the others also rising to their feet. Obviously, the others had made it just in time for the light show in their front yard.

A few seconds later, Kaoru began screaming at Katana, who was holding onto Sojiro for balance. Despite Kenshin's attempt to calm her, Kaoru continued to scream loudly at Katana, who appeared to be having a difficult time focusing.

"Kaoru? Is that from the fireworks, or is smoke coming out of your ears?" Katana asked sincerely, causing the rest of the Kenshin-gumi to burst of laughing. "What? Was it something I said?" Katana questioned confused.

"Shhh Shhhh." Sojiro tried to hush Katana while chuckling himself.

Not too long afterward, Saito and the police arrived and the Kenshin-gumi were lined up, all sitting on the ground looking somewhat guilty, their hair or clothes smoking.

Saito walked in front of them, taking a long look at each of them as if they were hardened criminals, smoke rising ominously in the background.

Stopping directly in front of Sojiro and Katana, he took a long drawl from his cigarette. He raised his eyebrows slightly as he asked, "What's wrong with her? Or is it a her? It looks more like a squirrel to me." He motioned to Katana's hair fried in her pony tail that oddly resembled a squirrels tail.

"Sojiro?" Katana asked in a loud whisper. "Are we in trouble?"

"Yes Katana, we're in trouble." He whispered back.

"Well I didn't do it!" she stated loudly, lying down against his arm before passing out, leaving the others to deal with the police's lectures and punishments for the moment.

* * *

We just had to put Saito in there somewhere. We love our chain-smokin cop. Heh. Thanks for sticking with us! Promise to try and update sooner! Please remember to review! Until next time! See ya!


	18. Chapter 18

Hmm...how to begin. Well, I'll start with "long time no see, huh?" Let me get this part over with: track season started and I found myself with absoluted no free weekends due to track meets and after school practices + homework no free time during week. Throw in all my spare time drawing, learing that I'm moving this summer, and good 'ole stress, and you get this: me not updating for nearly three, four months. I'm a horrible, horrible person and should be shot. Spork me death, me hearties.

Enough excuses. I am truely sorry for not updating, but with track season (and school in general) coming to an end, time to write and update with be much, much easier. Just the fact that you're still here, continuing reading this lowly little fic means so much. Were it me, I'd probably abandon reading it with such a long wait XD. Anywho, thank you wonderful readers for sticking with this story and reading/reviewing/whatever. Your continued support means soooooooo(e) much. Yall rock my sox off.

Okay! Enough of that! Here's what you dedicated readers have been waiting for! Chapter 18! (ps, I promise to make baka work 10x harder to update asap D heh heh)

* * *

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Part 18 _(by shinsei)

* * *

_

"This is it," Katana smirked, drawing her sword. "This is the time I finally kill you Sojiro!"

Soujiro, standing a few feet away with his back to her, slowly turned to face her. "Katana," he said gently, his deep blue eyes sweeping up to meet hers.

Katana felt her body stiffen as his eyes locked onto her own. Her mind screamed to attack, but her body refused to budge. Panic zipped through her body as she could only watch as her opponent slowly made his way toward her.

As Soujiro neared, Katana's hand shook violently until her blade tumbled out of her hand and hit the ground with a dull thump. Unable to move, Katana cold only watch as Soujiro stopped in front of her, lowering his head so his face was mere inches away from her own.

"Katana, why do you want to kill me?" Soujiro asked softly, his forehead resting against hers.

"B-because," she struggled to answer, "I…I hate you!"

A slow smile spread across his face at her words. He chuckled quietly as his hands snaked around her waist, drawing her closer.

"Hate me?" He whispered, his lips brushing her ear. "You don't hate me."

"Yes…yes I do…" Katana's voice came out in a breathless whisper. She wanted so badly to kill him right then and there, but her body still refused to listen.

"If you hate me so much," Soujiro murmured, his breath tickling her ear, "then why can't you kill me?"

The impact of the question hit her with full force. It echoed through her mind, pounding at her skull, demanding an answer.

_I…have to hate him. He killed my family…destroyed my life. I'm supposed to hate him, but…_ The world around her slowly darkened and Katana felt herself falling._ …I don't.

* * *

_

Katana slowly inched her eyes open, cringing at the bright sunlight pouring through an open window. A loud chittering noise sounded near her ear. She groaned, her head pounding, and lazily rolled over to find her face centimeters away from a fuzzy brown one.

"Innen!" She exclaimed, recognizing the squirrel. She grabbed him as she sat up and hugged him. "I've missed you so much, pal! Now how did you…" Katana trailed off, realization sinking in. If Innen was here, that meant…

"Finally awake, huh? Lazy, aren't we?"

Katana slowly raised her head; dread filling her as she did so. Her eyes widened at the site of Misao kneeling at her feet, a wide smile spread across her face.

"No way," Katana groaned, lying back down and yanking the blanket over her head. "This is a dream…no, a nightmare."

"What!" Misao exclaimed, sounding appalled. "Is that the kind of greeting you give your best friend who traveled hundreds of miles just to see you!" Katana's response was an incomprehensible grumble.

"Come _on_ Katana!" Misao whined, tugging at the blanket, but Katana held it firmly in place over her head.

Misao felt a slight tug on her pants and glanced down to see Innen. He chittered at her then, with a mischievous glint in his eye, pulled a kunai knife out from behind his back. Misao smirked and nodded, taking the weapon from the squirrel.

"Katana! It's time to get uuuuup!" Misao yelled in a sing-song voice. She slashed down the middle of the blanket to reveal Katana's shocked face.

"MISAO!" Katana roared, lunging at her friend and tackling her to the ground. "Look at what you did!" She shook the ruined blanket in Misao's face. A long cut extended down the blanket, nearly to the bottom. A small unripped section at the bottom was the only thing holding it together.

"…so?"

"So? SO! Kaoru's gunna KILL me!"

"What about me?" Kaoru asked, sliding the door open and peering in. Both Misao and Katana grabbed for the blanket and yanked it behind their backs to hide it from Kaoru's sight. Unfortunately, they grabbed opposite sides of the tear, and when they tugged, the remainder of the blanket tore in half with a loud ripping noise. An awkward silence stretched between the three girls for an instant before Katana and Misao glared at each other.

"WHAT'D YOU _DO_!" They screamed at each other before diving into an argument about whose fault it was.

Kaoru rubbed her temples, letting out a long sigh. "It's too early for this…" she mumbled.

* * *

"So…" Katana started slowly, tracing her finger around the rim of her cup, "what brings you guys here?"

"Why, we came down for Tanabata of course!" Okina said in a 'well-_duh_' voice as he tugged on his beard. The Kenshin-gumi stared at him.

"Uh…Tanabata was…yesterday," Kaoru quietly pointed out.

"Ah, details!" Okina shrugged

"Well, we can see you all had a fun festival," Misao laughed, looking out in the yard. Everyone followed her gaze to the rubble heap where the shed had once stood. Chunks of random items littered the rest of the yard.

"Yes, well Katana had a little too much fun with the fireworks," Megumi spat, casting a dark look at Katana, who spoke up defensively.

"It's not _my_ fault! It was Sano's booze!"

"Nu-uh!" Sano immediately denied as Megumi's glare swept in his direction. "She was wasted before I saw her!" Doubtful looks were thrown at him. Sano looked around desperately for an escape from blame. "Soujiro!" He exclaimed suddenly. "Ask Soujiro! He was with Katana the whole night!"

The accusing group gaze immediately landed on Soujiro, who had been peacefully sipping his tea. As he stuttered his excuses, Misao cocked an eyebrow and exchanged a smirk with Omasu and Okon.

"Enough!" Kaoru said sternly and everyone grew quiet. "We'll deal with last night's…incident later. Now, please continue with why you decided to drop by."

"I'll take it from here," Omasu said. "We planned to surprise you by showing up here for Tanabata, but we had to stop at EVERY station to refill on sake for _him_," Omasu jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, gesturing to the tall man leaning against the wall.

"Oh!" Kenshin exclaimed. "I didn't know you wanted to celebrate Tanabata with us Master."

A loud clatter caused everyone to jump. They turned to see Katana on her feet, her eyes wide as she stared at Sejiruo Hiko.

"You're…Kenshin's master?" She asked in disbelief.

Hiko sighed, lowering his head slightly, a look of regret on his face. "As much as it pains me to admit…yes, that idiot was trained by me."

Katana's expression changed from shock to excitement as her hand flew to her sword hilt. "Hiko-san! I challenge you to a fight!"

Hiko's eyebrows shot up. "You? Fight me?" Katana nodded eagerly. If Kenshin wouldn't fight her, then his master would be a good—ever better—match.

"Now, now Amaya-chan," Kenshin chuckled. "This one's master would never agree to a fight with you."

Hiko shrugged and offered Katana a half-smile. "Sure. I'll fight you."

Kenshin's jaw dropped. As did everyone else's in the room.

"Master!" Kenshin exclaimed. "You can't! Amaya-chan is only a child!" Katana ground her teeth and her grip on her sword hilt tightened.

"Of course, you have to beat Kenshin first," Hiko smirked, smacking Kenshin's back.

"WHAT!"

Hiko shrugged nonchalantly. "Little miss Katana here will fight my idiot apprentice."

Everyone instantly broke out into a huge argument, saying it was 'too dangerous' and nonsense like that.

"ENOUGH!" Hiko roared, silencing the room. "They'll fight. That's final." No one argued.

"Hey, what's this?" Yahiko asked, breaking the awkward silence. While the others had been busy arguing, he had busied himself in digging through one of the boxes the Oniwabanshu had brought with them. He held up a wad of pointy green leaves and small red berries.

"That's mistletoe," Okon explained. "It's a Western tradition for Christmas."

"We were in such a hurry to pack, we just grabbed random boxes," Omasu added.

"What's the tradition?" Yahiko asked, examining the mistletoe in his hand.

"The tradition," Misao started, a playful smirk forming on her face, "is that when two people stand under the mistletoe, they have to…" she took a deep, dramatic breath, "…kiss."

Yahiko quickly flung the mistletoe back in the box at Misao's words. "Yuck," he muttered, casting dark looks at the box full of the evil green weed.

_My thoughts exactly_, Katana thought in disgust.

"Ah ha!" Sano, who had been digging through another box, had discovered the jackpot: booze. "Yall came here for a party, right?" He popped the cork and took a swig.

"Hold it," Kaoru snapped at the group. "Katana! You and Soujiro blew up the shed last night, so you have to clean up the mess first!"

"What!" Katana and Soujiro exclaimed in unison.

"Great idea Kaoru!" Misao suddenly exclaimed. "In fact, I'll go with them to make sure they really clean."

Kaoru nodded her thanks and before the matter could be discussed further, all three were kicked out into the yard to clean.

"Ugh…" Katana groaned, her gaze sweeping at the mess before them. "Nice going Misao…" she trailed off, seeing Misao was nowhere in sight.

* * *

"There we go…" Misao whispered, tying the string to the rafter. She jumped down and admired her handiwork. "A perfect spot…now only one more left…" She glanced out the window at Katana and Soujiro, who had been cleaning up the yard for the past hour. A sudden idea bubbled up in her mind and an evil smirk formed on her face.

"Perfect."

* * *

"This is all your fault."

Soujiro sighed as he bent down to pick up another piece of firework. "And how is that? _You're _the one who fired the roman candle."

Katana rolled her eyes. "Yea, like you're _so_ innocent."

"I am; I did nothing. I should be in there with the others."

Katana ground her teeth in annoyance. "Oh _so_ sorry. I'd rather be getting wasted then being here with you, too."

"I didn't say that." Soujiro glanced over at Katana, who was struggling to lift a large wooden board. He strode over to her and grabbed the opposite end of the plank. He smiled at her as she met his gaze. "Actually, I quite like spending time with you."

Katana froze, the dream racing back into her mind. _You don't hate him_, her mind reminded her. She suddenly found herself filled with uncontrollable fury.

"Yes I DO!" She screamed, swing the huge board at Soujiro. He let out a yelp of surprise and managed to duck in the nick of time. As the wooden plank swung around, Katana felt herself loose balance. She let go of the board as it passed over Soujiro, and tumbled down on top of him. The board flew a few feet before crashing to the ground, the impact of it shaking the earth. A particularly tall pile of rubbish near the two toppled on top of them.

"Well, well. I guess you two _do_ need supervision."

Soujiro and Katana looked up to see Misao smirking down at them. They both quickly leapt to their feet, pink staining their cheeks.

"Gettin' it on in the garbage!" Misao enjoyed watching their faces morph into pure horror. Katana opened her mouth to argue, but Misao didn't give her the chance. "What's happened to you Katana," she said in mock disgust, "I never thought you'd resort to that! What would your mother say! Why, she'd be—" Misao was cut off by Katana's fist connecting with her face. By the time she recovered from the shock of the blow, Katana had taken off out the dojo at a dead sprint.

"Katana!" Misao called after her. She looked over at Soujiro, who, to her shock, was glaring at her.

"Bringing up her family like that was too far Misao," He said. Then he pointed after Katana. "Go after her." Without another word, Misao took off after her friend.

* * *

Katana slowed to a stop, her breath coming out in broken, ragged sobs.

_What would my mother think…_ Katana collapsed on the ground, resting her back against the large cherry blossom tree. Since arriving at the Kamiya dojo, she had discovered this secluded stop a short distance out of town, and often came as an 'escape.' Now the spot was useless to her, as it couldn't help her escape her own mind.

I should be trying to kill Soujiro! Not trying to be friends with him! What the hell's wrong with me! Katana wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees, letting the tears come. Mom…dad, Sayuri, Taro…I'm so sorry…

"Katana?"

"Go away."

"What is this? Some kind of secret spot?" Misao laughed uneasily. Katana remained in the same position, her shoulder shaking every once in a while.

"Hey Kat," Misao said gently, kneeling beside Katana. "Hey…I'm sorry. I should've known better…I was only teasing. I didn't mean to hurt you. Yea, I should've known bringing up your family would only bring back some painful memories." Misao smiled sadly. "I'm supposed to be your best friend and help you through bad times…not create them for you. I let you down…I'm so, so sorry."

Katana slowly raised her head. "No, you wouldn't know. I never told you any details of my family's death…you wouldn't know it would hurt me."

Misao offered a small smile. "So we're cool?"

Katana returned the smile. "Yea, we're cool."

Misao got to her feet and pulled Katana up. Katana started walking back from where she came, but Misao stood where she was, transfixed as she gazed up at the tall tree.

"Misao?"

"Oh! Sorry!" Misao snapped out of it and jogged over to Katana's side. "Nice secret spot, by the way."

Katana smirked. "Only because Kaoru and Megumi don't know about it." Misao laughed, but somewhat uneasily. "Misao? I said it was okay, so don't feel bad."

"I know, but I still think some of it's my fault…" Misao looked thoughtful. "Tell ya what. I'll make it up to you tomorrow!"

Katana looked at Misao's hopeful expression and sighed. "Sure, whatever."

"YEA!" Misao cheered. She looped her arm through Katana's and practically dragged her back to the dojo. "I promise! You won't regret it!"

Katana groaned inwardly. _Why do I have a feeling I will…

* * *

_

Ah, another ending to another chapter. After so long, too...anywho, thank you all for reading and please review. Oh! I almost forgot (it's been so long! XD)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 100+ REVIEWS!  
--let's keep 'em comin'! XD--


	19. Chapter 19

_Note to readers: Ok I sincerely apologize for the delay. I'm soooooooo sorry it took me so long. Please forgive me. But it was the end of the school year and I had a gazzilion projects to do. Then when school got out there was a whole lot of drama going on in my life. I know, I know…I'm making excuses when I should be tortured with hot pokers and jellybeans and then chased by a mob wielding pitchforks and lawnmowers. Ok well I hope this chapter was worth the wait. And a huge thank you to all of those who review._

* * *

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Part 19 (by baka)

* * *

A young girl slowly slid open her door hoping that no one would notice the noise. Tip-toeing out into the hallway, she clutched a small bag in one hand and a handful of ribbons in the other. Making her way to the first appealing doorway, she pulled a small piece of mistletoe from her bag and began attaching it to the string. Looking up at the doorway, she began trying to decide the best way to tie the plant. Not exceptionally tall, well actually some might call her short (of course they would first make sure she was out of hearing range) the tall doorway posed a problem. Deciding that getting a stool would be to much of a hassle she began looking for an alternative. Just at that moment a small, furry animal ventured into the dojo.

"Innen!" she whispered harshly, " were you out pick pocketing the drunks again?"

The small squirrel looked at her annoyed and its eyes seemed to ask, _"Well what if I was? If stupid humans want to drink smelly liquid that makes the fall over their own feet and pass out in the middle of the street why shouldn't I teach them a lesson? (and help myself in the process?)"_

"There's no way you're just a squirrel." Misao stated seemingly to herself. Then a thought dawned on her: _Squirrels climb trees, fences, light poles… and doorway arches!_ "Oh well who cares about that? Want to help me? Please Innen? You can tie pretty ribbons and cause much mayhem."

The squirrel began to debate with itself, _"Money? Mayhem? Money? Mayhem?" _After a moment it decided and jumped to the girl's shoulder. Once Innen was handed the mistletoe, he quickly climbed to the corner of the doorway and began tying it.

"No! No, Innen you have to tie it in the middle so that people can stand under it," Misao ordered in a quiet voice. "That's good…right in the middle. Now come on we have a bunch more to do."

Down to the last piece of mistletoe, Misao began making her way out of the dojo. "Come on Innen. We've got one more place to go."

* * *

The next morning seemed to start out as usual at the Kamiya dojo. That is until two unsuspecting victims fell prey to Misao's mistletoe. Kaoru and Kenshin were both standing in a doorway near the kitchen talking about what to do for dinner with all of the guests present. Sadly for them Misao noticed a small string of mistletoe above them. As they were both about to move Misao screamed "WAIT!"

Startled, Kaoru and Kenshin both looked at Misao like she was crazy. "What is it Misao?" Kaoru asked.

"You're both standing under mistletoe." Misao stated as a small smile spread across her face.

"So?" Kaoru asked growing even more confused. She looked towards Kenshin but his eyebrows had already begun to knit themselves together in their confusion.

"Weren't you listening yesterday? Standing under a mistletoe means you have to kiss!" Misao nearly screamed as her smile began spreading further and further across her face.

Those at the dojo who weren't already in the room forming an audience began to filter in at the sound of all the commotion. Unfortunately for Kenshin and Kaoru, they seemed to be center stage and both were very, very bright red. However that was far more do to the fact that kissing each other was mentioned than their being the center of attention.

"Misao, if you think we are going to kiss each other just because we are standing under a weed, you are much more insane than I thought," Kaoru said, trying her best to compose herself.

"But it's tradition! It's a _Western_ Tradition!" Misao stated as if the fact that it was a western tradition made it all the worse if a person didn't follow it.

At that moment, Kenshin, having had enough of the spotlight, quietly decided to slip away, but was blocked by Misao.

"Do you have any idea what will happen if you don't kiss? Do you! DO YOU? You will have 7…no wait…70 years of bad luck! And it won't be just you that is afflicted by it! Your future family, like your kids and their kids will suffer from it! Do you want to be the cause of that? And a family isn't even very likely with all of the bad luck you'll be toting around. Most likely Kenshin, you'll wind up alone. And…and your only friend will be a radish that you named Kyo! That isn't even the worst part though! It's that you'll die of starvation because you'll wind up so stupid you won't eat the damn radish because you think it's your only friend!"

"Misao watch your lang-" Kaoru began before Misao turned her attention on her. The trio's audience was watching them as if they were viewing an amazing ping-pong match. The group shifted their gaze from one to the other; from the lunatic to the deer in the headlights.

"And you Kaoru! You'll wind up all alone too! Except for hundreds of cats! And you'll always be sick, because…because you'll never realize you're allergic to them! And you'll die a terrible, horrible death caused by a…a giant hairball!" Misao finished, completely out of breath. She took a deep breath to continue with her predictions of their unlucky futures, however before she could get enough oxygen to add more, she was cut off by Kaoru

Without giving Misao a chance to go on, Kaoru took a quick step forward, raised herself onto her tip toes, and momentarily—so momentarily that if you blinked for too long you would have missed it—brushed her lips against Kenshin's.

The entire room was speechless. In fact, most of the audiences had their jaws dropped. Those who didn't were Aoshi and Hiko. Aoshi however, did have a look of surprise in his eyes, if only for a moment. Hiko…well, he had been gazing into his empty flask, wondering where it all had gone so fast and ended up missing it completely.

"Would everyone stop staring? It was only a stupid little kiss. We've had enough runs with bad luck as it is, so there's no need to take any chances," Kaoru mumbled. When no one else reacted, she left the room in a huff and headed towards the opposite end of the dojo.

Megumi was the first of the shell-shocked audience to regain conscious thought beyond "_Kaoru kissed Kenshin"_. That was perhaps driven by the fact that she was so pissed.

_How dare that little twit of a girl kiss Kenshin! _Megumi thought, pushing her way towards the front of the crowd. _It wasn't even a good kiss! How dare she! _Before Megumi knew it, she was standing next to an extremely shocked Kenshin. Fluttering her eyelashes, she looked up at him. "Well it _is_ tradition Ken-san," Megumi said in a seductive voice before pulling him into a kiss. Kenshin however chose that moment to come back to reality. Before he could receive a second kiss that day, he pulled away from Megumi and quite clumsily fell backwards and hit his head.

Sano was just beginning to comprehend the events that had just occurred and felt an unusual anger stir within himself. _It's probably because Kenshin's getting more action than me today. Yeah that's all it is, _Sano thought as he unconsciously watched Megumi walk away. Once Megumi was out of the room, he began thinking of how he could use the mistletoe for his own use. A smile crossed his face, _I'd better find out where all these little plants are._

Yahiko seemed to have to hardest time dealing with the whole kissing thing. This was perhaps because he was so young and could only think, _Yuck, yuck yuck, yuck, yuck! Who would want to kiss Ugly or Megumi? That's just gross! Just remember stay away from the-_ Just then, Yahiko's gaze fell on one person—Katana. His cheeks began turning a slight pink. _I could kiss Katana. But I can't make it seem too obvious…she can't know I like her—she just can't._

Katana left the room shaking her head. _Misao…up to your old tricks again. Ugh…now I have to pay attention so I don't have to kiss some moron. One of these days her fun and games is going to get her into trouble…again. I thought she would have learned her lesson last time. _As Katana wondered off, her thoughts drifted back to old memories with Misao. She shuttered at the thought.

Soujiro wasn't thinking much about the mistletoe. His thoughts were consumed by a not-even-one foot tall brown animal. _You have to be kidding me! Not that devil animal again! This day can't possibly get any worse." _He slowly made his way towards the door, trying not to make his movements too sudden and noticeable.

Aoshi, uninterested in the mistletoe, left the room as if nothing had happened and found a secluded room for meditation. Hiko also seemed unaffected. He wandered off in search of more booze. Omasu and Okon wondered off giggling together, with the other Oniwabanshu close behind.

Pretty soon everyone filtered out of the room leaving only Kenshin. He eventually decided that today was a superb day for laundry. Once deciding that, he took two hefty baskets of it off to the river. _I don't have to worry about mistletoe if I'm not here, _He thought, making his way along the path in a surprisingly good mood for someone who was about to spend most of the day doing laundry.

Kaoru had an idea much like Kenshin's; she set off towards town to go get some things from the market. Although one of her reasons for leaving was the same as Kenshin's, the other was because she needed to sort out her thoughts.

_How could I have kissed Kenshin? I can't believe I kissed him! Why in the world did I do that? I wanted Misao to shut up! That was it…and I didn't want to take a chance with the bad luck._ Although as Kaoru began trying to rationalize why she did it, it seemed more and more like she was trying to convince herself.

* * *

As the day went on, Sano and Yahiko both were trying to devise a way to get Katana under the mistletoe. Sano realized that his choices were limited since Kaoru was gone, Misao, well, she was Misao, and he seemed rather angry at Megumi, although he himself didn't even completely understand why. Kissing Katana was the perfect solution since it would get under Megumi's skin.

Yahiko's reasons were quite different. He wasn't mad at anyone. The poor kid just had a major crush and kissing under the mistletoe seemed like the only way he was going to get a kiss at all. Yahiko had even come up with a plan.

"Hey Misao? Can you tell Katana that Kaoru wants her in the kitchen?" Yahiko asked, hoping his plan worked. Katana had been training for a while now and this was the only way he could think of getting her under the mistletoe. He was of course thinking of the one that Kenshin and Kaoru were caught under earlier that morning.

"Kaoru got back already?" Misao asked, getting up.

"Uh…yeah, she did and she wants to talk to Katana about something." Yahiko not-so-smoothly lied.

Raising an eyebrow Misao walked off to find her friend. "Hey Katana! Kaoru wants you in the kitchen!" Misao announced, walking in and interrupting Katana's training.

"What does she want?" Katana asked annoyed at the interruption.

"I don't know. Go ask her." Misao suggested. "You could use a break too…you reek. Maybe go jump in the river while you're at it."

"I don't smell that bad," Katana growled. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay," Misao replied as she was walking out of the room. Looking towards the end of the hallway, she could have sworn she saw the back of Sano's shirt.

* * *

_Ok…Katana's headed towards the kitchen…that means I can catch her in the doorway. I should probably be walking out so it doesn't look too planned. _Sano thought as he made his way towards the kitchen.

Yahiko, who had the same idea, was waiting to the side of the kitchen door for the sound of footsteps. Hearing them, he waited until they were just about to go through the doorway when he hurriedly jumped out. Of course Sano didn't expect anyone to be walking out of the kitchen, so both guys ran into each other and landed on their butts right under the mistletoe. Looking up and then at each other, both looked extremely panicked. Quickly checking around so that no one was looking, they got to their feet.

"No one finds out about this," they both stated in unison. Sano walked off thinking about his bad luck and Yahiko walked off thinking about Valentine's Day and shuddered.

* * *

"Do you smell food?" Sano asked Misao, as they were walking through the dojo.

Misao raised her nose in the air and then sniffed. "I guess someone finally decided to cook. Yes! Food! I hope there's still a lot left—I'm hungry!" Misao stated, her stomach agreeing with a long gurgling sound.

As the two started walking out the door, Sano suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "What the-?" Sano started, looking behind him to see Aoshi with his hand on his shoulder. Without another word, Aoshi lifted his hand and walked out the door following Misao, leaving a confused Sano.

_That was weird,_ Sano thought, scratching his head. He looked up at the doorway and noticed that there was a string of mistletoe that neither he nor Misao had noticed. _Oh…I guess he didn't want us walking under the mistletoe together.

* * *

_

At lunch everyone stuffed their faces. However, Kaoru and Kenshin were missing, and Sano was the first to notice.

"I guess Kaoru and Kenshin liked that kiss a bit more than we thought," Sano stated, elbowing Yahiko in the ribs.

"Ugh. That's gross I don't even want to think about that," Yahiko mumbled. Looking over at Sano, he realized that he was sitting right next to him. _It's probably just chance, _Yahiko thought, _but Mistletoe… _he shuddered, _and Valentines… _anothershudder. Moving away from Sano, Yahiko went to get more food and then sat down on the opposite side of the yard.

"Has anyone seen Katana?" Misao asked, looking around and realizing that her friend wasn't there.

Soujiro, who had just lost his appetite when Innen bounded onto Misao's shoulder chewing on his own meal of a lovely golden-brown acorn, quickly jumped to his feet. "I'll go find her. She'll get cranky if she doesn't get to eat."

"Yeah she will, and her stomach growls louder than mine." Misao managed to say while large amounts of food were rolling around in her mouth. "I think she went over that way," Misao pointed

Walking out of the dojo absent mindedly, Soujiro let his gaze drift from side to side in search of Katana. He really didn't think that he would find her but he half-heartedly looked anyway. _Well at least I don't have to deal with the squirrel. _Soujiro thought as his gaze feel upon a cherry blossom tree at the top of nearby hill. Underneath its branches was a girl who he instantly recognized as Katana. Wondering if it was good luck or bad luck that caused him to come across her, he quickened his pace over to her.

_Misao is so full of it. I did not smell, _Katana thought, wringing out her long hair. _That swim was nice after that workout this morning though. _She had just gotten back from a quick dunk in the nearby stream. Stupidly though, she forgot to bring a change of clothes and was forced to wear the ones she had been sweating in earlier. _Well technically I wasn't forced to, but It would have been a bit weird if I decided to walk back without wearing them. _Katana smiled at the thought of that. Facing towards the cherry blossom tree and absorbed in her own thoughts, she didn't notice Soujiro as he approached.

"Katana?" Soujiro asked, tapping her on the shoulder. Katana grabbed his hand planning on flipping him over her shoulder, but Soujiro counteracted the move. He spun her around keeping a firm grasp on her wrist, hoping that she wouldn't go all assassin/killer/psycho on him. "Hold on Katana. It's just me."

"What do you want?" She questioned apprehensively, pulling her hand from his grasp.

"I wanted to tell you that everyone else is eating so you wouldn't miss out on the food." Soujiro stated, getting slightly annoyed because no matter when he tried to do something nice, Katana always seemed to be rude.

"Uh…ok," Katana mumbled. A sudden, loud chittering noise caused them both to jump. Glancing up above them, they spotted the source of the noise.

Looking up, the first thing they noticed was Innen. The second was the branch he seemed to be obsessed with, and last they noticed the bow tied on the branch directly above them, on which was strung a piece of mistletoe. Both Katana and Soujiro were stunned. They continued to stare at the mistletoe for a while longer, before their gazes drifted back to each other. And one thought seemed to linger on both of their minds. "W_hat the hell do I do?"_

_

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_

Don't you just _love_ cliffhangers? Eh heh heh...anywho thanks for reading! Oh and by the way people, just so you should know...

**TODAY IS BAKA'S BIRTHDAY! SWEEEEEEET SIXTEEN! YEAH FOR BAKAAAAA!**

Know what she wants for her b-day? Reviews. Nice, meaninful reviews. Anyway--thanks for reading and see you next chapter!


	20. Chapter 20

Long time no see readers. It's been a while.

Guess that means it's time for apologies and excuses…

First let me say that this part was FREAKIN HARD TO FREAKIN WRITE. Sure, I was all excited when Baka and I planned it out, but when it came time for me to sit down and actually write it, I couldn't. I couldn't decide what I wanted to happen: kiss or no kiss? Whatever choice I picked would leave a huge impact in the story and either one would send it in very different directions. Maybe it was all that pressure…or writers block…whatever it was, I just haven't had the heart to sit down and write this. Until now. So sit back and enjoy and I hope the part is worth the agonizingly long wait I put you through.

* * *

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Part 20 (by shinsei)

* * *

Misao smirked as she watched Soujiro slowly walk out of the room to find Katana. The pieces of her plan were falling into place; she was amazed at how easy the entire ordeal was turning out to be. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Soujiro's distant form vanish from site. As if on cue, Misao rose to her feet and traced Soujiro's steps toward the door, but stopped short. Turning back to face the others, she found their eyes locked on her, expectant.

_Since when do I need an excuse to leave the room_, Misao thought, slightly annoyed. This delay could throw off the entire scheme. Driven by the sole desire to get out of there as soon as possible, she blurted out the first thought that came to mind.

"I gotta…uh, pee."

The others continued to stare back at her, as if to say, _That the best you can come up with?_

Of course, she couldn't help but notice Aoshi-sama's eyebrow arch delicately at her cleverly choice of words. …or the way those endless blue eyes she could so easily lose herself in stared at her through a curtain of messy black hair.

Was her throat always so dry? When did her palms get so sweaty?

Misao cast those pointless thoughts out her mind as her gaze shifted downward, toward Aoshi-sama's chest. His thin robe hung open very slightly, but enough so to allow Misao an eyeful of the hard muscles underneath. And if she stained, she could see lower still, toward those tone, sexy abs—

"…Misao?"

Misao immediately snapped back to reality. She swiftly moved her gaze from Aoshi-sama to Kaoru. She prayed the others didn't notice the heat she felt in her cheeks.

Kaoru, looking rather confused, jabbed her thumb over shoulder toward the door on the opposite side of the room. "Uh…the bathroom is…_that_ way."

The new bit of information took a moment to fully sink in. This called for another brilliant excuse on the weasel girl's part.

"Well," Misao began in a matter-of-fact voice as she slowly backed up toward the door, "I, uh…like to pee in, uh…bushes." Misao turned and sprinted out the door after Soujiro.

Kaoru exchanged a worried look with the others. As they watched Misao's retreating form in the distance, they couldn't shake a sinking feeling that something horrible was about to happen.

* * *

Karma is a bitch. 

And, quite frankly, rather unfair. After all, who had ferociously murdered her family, impaled her through the stomach, and haunted her dreams night after horrendous night? Surely that was enough to outweigh all the murder plots she constantly schemed in her mind. Surely this wasn't really happening to _her_.

Yet against all odds, there she was, facing hell itself, taking the form of the worst possible fate imaginable.

To _kiss_ Soujiro.

As she looked over at Soujiro, she saw the same utter shock reflected on his face from her own. But unlike her own stunned expression, which was laden with disgust, his was different. It had the same level of surprise and alarm, but there was a slight undertone of something altogether different. Something…pleasant. As if some part of his mind had somehow found a way to _enjoy_ this moment.

That subtle hint of pleasure in his eyes was more then enough to send her skyrocketing over the edge. In one quick, fluid motion, her sword was drawn, the metallic ring from the blade still hanging in the air. She expected a flinch, maybe a drawing of his own sword, but Soujiro stood unchanged, his eyes still locked on hers.

Instead of going in for the kill as planned out in her mind, her body took control and eliminated that option. It insisted on her leaning—not lunging—forward, ridding the both of them of those few bothersome inches that separated her lips from his.

She felt her body move of its own accord, drawing her closer to her impending doom. Her mind screamed for her to raise her sword end it all right there. She tried to do so, but the only movement she got out of her arm was a wobbling motion that resulting in her blade tumbling out of her hand and landing on the ground with a dull thump.

By now, the space between them had all but vanished. She felt Soujiro's hot breath on her face, and she felt her own breathing hitch. As her eyes slowly slid shut, she felt a peaceful calm come over her body. A gentle whisper in her ear that told this was right, this was as it should be.

Then suddenly, a new feeling overtook her, catching her completely off guard; a feeling she never thought she would experience, and toward him of all people. It was the _need_. An overpowering, intoxicating yearning for him, for the caress of his lips against her own, for the touch of his fingertips on hers, for the sensation of his skin upon her skin.

_But you hate him_, a gentle voice murmured in the back of her mind.

_No, _she whispered back, _I don't._

* * *

Sano shuffled down the deserted hallway, flexing his sore right hand. As it always did every few weeks, his hand had begun throbbing. His first thought, of course, was to find Megumi. But after the morning's mistletoe madness, he had decided to evade trouble by staying away from everyone. Choosing between female wrath that seemed to be associated with the dangling weed and a sore hand, Sano opted for the latter. He would suck up the pain any day rather than face Megumi in a bad mood. 

Turning a corner, Sano ran straight into none other than the very vixen he had so desperately wanted to avoid. With her medicine box clutched tightly in her hands and a sour look on her face, Sano decided it would be best to just ignore and go around her. He stepped beside her and began to go around when the doctor's hand shot out and grabbed his right wrist, yanking it towards her face.

"You've been practicing that wretched two-layers technique, haven't you?" She glared up at him.

Sano shrugged innocently. "You know how my hand is. It always starts hurting every few weeks or so."

Megumi gave him a dry look. "That's because you keep using it. It wouldn't hurt if you'd actually listen to what I tell you." She released his wrist and began digging through her medicine chest. "What were you doing sneaking around the dojo anyway?" She glanced up briefly to cast a suspicious look. "I haven't seen you all day. No one has."

Sano sighed, leaning up against the wall beside her. "That was my plan. I didn't want to get all caught up in all that mistletoe crap." He raised his chin slightly and chuckled slightly. _Figures…_

Megumi took his hand in both her own and slowly dribbled a thick, gooey substance on his hand. "Really? I would have thought you'd want to be in the thick of all that chaos."

Sano watched her carefully start wrapping his hand in fresh bandages. "Women in situations like that…you know, fighting over some guy, are the times I choose to avoid them."

Megumi snorted. "Never thought you could be that wise Sano. Never mess with a woman fighting over a man," she let out a slow breath, "especially when she's lost." She finished tying off the bandage before repacking her medicine box and turned to go.

Without thinking, Sano reached out and grabbed Megumi's arm, spinning her around to face him. Before she could figure out what was happening, Sano leaned down and lightly pressed his lips against hers.

Almost before it had started, it ended, leaving Megumi wide-eyed, her medicine chest clanging to the ground. A small smile spread across his face and he gestured up above them. Megumi managed to recover enough to glance upward at the little piece of mistletoe dangling over her. Her eyes quickly snapped back to Sano, who was already making his way down the hallway.

"To ward off bad luck," He called to her over his shoulder. "So maybe next time, you won't lose." Another corner, and he was gone.

A moment later, Megumi managed to retrieve her fallen box. As she turned to go, her fingers lightly brushed against her lips, which were curved into the slightest smile.

_

* * *

__Traitor._

The word hissed in her mind, sending a jolt through her body. Suddenly and image flashed in her mind; a field of hundreds stood before her, their bodies drenched in blood and faces silhouetted. Four figures stood apart from the rest before her, with faces she could see, could recognize. Her family. Their faces were dark and cold, glaring down at her. Taro took a step toward her.

_Traitor,_ he hissed.

Katana immediately snapped her eyes open and screamed. She thrust her hands out in front of her, shoving Soujiro back away from her. She brought her shaking hands to her face and felt the tears that stained her cheeks. Without another thought, she sprinted down the hill.

Her mind was a torrent of thoughts, all swirling around so fast it made her dizzy. Her vision blurred from the tears that filled her eyes. The single word echoed over and over in her mind. _Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor..._

"Katana!"

She raised her arm and swung it back, connecting it with whatever had called her name. She didn't stop running. She didn't stop crying. And the word didn't stop echoing.

Wearily, she crawled on her hands and knees over to the water's edge and peered down as her reflection peered up.

"What's happening to me?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

Her reflection shook her head, as if just as disguised with her as her family had been in her mind.

Her entire life had been devoted to hunting down the monsters that had slaughtered her family. Every day she trained for the day she would kill them. Every day she planned out how they would suffer for their sins. Every day of her life was dedicated to one simple, solitary task. Revenge.

Then, as if a gift from the gods, the sinner was practically hand-delivered to her. Her mission, her goal, her life was about to be achieved with just the swing of her swords. Her family would finally be avenged and she could rest in peace knowing they would be smiling happily down on her from the next world.

Now they were disowning her. What use was such a weak girl to them? She had the chance—many chances—to avenge their murders, all of which were pitifully ruined by her own foolishness. She was useless to them, because she couldn't do it. She couldn't kill the murderer. She couldn't kill the person she swore to loathe for all eternity. She couldn't kill Soujiro.

Katana slowly pulled out the knife she kept concealed in her robe. Slowly, she unsheathed it. Slowly, she pressed the cool blade against the warm skin of her wrist.

"I have no more reason to live…" she cried softly. Swiftly, she yanked and the blade slashed, slicing into skin, blood splattering out. A few droplets landed on her face, which was contorted into shock.

"What do you think you're doing!" Soujiro demanded, the blade gripped firmly in his hand. Blood trickled down the hilt onto Katana's shaking hand. He sunk down beside her on his knees, gently pulling the knife out of her firm grasp. His eyes locked onto her wrist, where a small cut was slowly dribbling blood. Sighing, he ripped his sleeve and used the cloth the bandage the small wound.

"Katana." Soujiro's voice was soft and tired. "Why would you try and do something like that?"

She took a shaky breath. "I…I'm useless. I need to avenge my family…and I can't even do that…" she trailed off, struggling to hold the tears in.

Suddenly, Soujiro yanked out his blade. Alarmed, Katana jumped to her feet. Soujiro rose just as quickly and grabbed her hand, thrusting the hilt into her grip. Stepping closer to her, he rested the edge of the blade against his throat.

"Kill me," he said, his voice quiet. "If that will give you reason to live, then I gladly give you mine." His eyes slid shut and he took slow breaths, as if meditating.

Katana's palms felt slick as she gripped the hilt. Soujiro stood perfectly still, eyes closed, waiting for her to end his life. She took a deep breath…and tossed the sword to the ground. Soujiro's eyes snapped open, a mixed look of surprise and confusion on his face. Katana reached out and grabbed Soujiro's hand. With her teeth, she tore off part of her sleeve and slowly began wrapping his deep wound.

"If I killed you," Katana whispered softly, and Soujiro had to strain to hear, "I would be nothing better than…Shishio, wouldn't I?" She raised her eyes to meet his. "I would be a murderer." She tied the cloth, but didn't release his hand. "I've decided," she smiled at him. "I'm not going to kill you. I…can't kill you."

Soujiro returned her smile.

"But," Katana's smile slowly turned into a smirk, "That doesn't mean you're off the hook. You still have to pay for what you did."

"Of course," Soujiro said, relief pouring through his body. "I'll make it up to you. I promise."

Katana nodded curtly and walked toward the dojo, pulling him along after her. "That's good, cause I haven't done a single one of my chores since I got here and they're starting to pile up…"

"Hey!" Katana suddenly turned to face him, an excited look on his face. "You fought Kenshin, right? You can help train me for when I fight him!"

Soujiro shrugged, "Sure, I gue—" Katana didn't let him finish before she let out a joyous shout and continued dragging him back to the dojo.

* * *

"So…how was the kiss?" 

Katana stopped in her tracks and whirled around to face Misao, who had the smuggest look on her face. Before she could speak, Misao cut her off.

"No need to thank me!" Misao smirked. Suddenly Aoshi walked by and Misao let out a quiet squeal. "Aoshi-sama!" She raced after him.

Katana felt her blood boiling. _It was all Misao's doing! I should've known!_ She stormed after Misao, hurrying to catch up to her.

It was almost too easy.

She caught up to Misao, who was trailing behind her beloved Aoshi-sama. Then she saw it. Aoshi, completely oblivious, walked right under the heftiest chunk of mistletoe Katana had ever seen. She quickly raised her left and delivered a hard kick to Misao's back, which sent the weasel girl flying straight into Aoshi.

"KATANA! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!" Misao fumed.

Katana mimicked Misao's earlier smirk. "Look up."

Aoshi and Misao both raised their heads and saw the weed dangling above them. Misao slowly looked back at Aoshi, her face becoming a lovely shade of magenta.

Of course at that very second, everyone else just happened to walk into the room.

Omasu and Okon were the first to realize what was going on. They exchanged a glance before breaking out into huge grins.

"What goes around, comes around," Okina chuckled.

Misao turned her attention back to Aoshi. His emotionless eyes turned to her and she felt her breath hitch. The world felt fuzzy and Misao wondered it everyone could hear how loud her heart was beating. Was it just her, or was Aoshi-sama getting closer…closer…

With a dull thunk, Misao fainted and hit the floor. Katana laughed as Omasu hurried over to check on the weasel girl.

_Too easy._

* * *

Once again sorry it took so long. I hope you liked it...please review :D 


	21. Chapter 21

Greatest apologies readers! Once again here is a superbly late update! I would spout off the usual excuses, but you probably don't want to here them...if you've stayed with us this long, then you would probably rather skip right to the story than listen to us rattle on about lame reasons why we are such slow, scum of the earth.

Please forgive us, and we hope this chapter can help soothe your anger :D

_Disclaimer:_ nope, RuroKen still isn't ours...but Katana is :)**

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**

Till Death Do Us Part

Part 21 (by baka)

* * *

Whoever had decided to stick Katana and Misao in the same car of the same train for an entire day had one sick sense of humor.

At one point, the car had been filled with many other passengers; however, the _disagreements_ frequently happening between Misao and Katana caused the passengers to relocate for their own safety. By the end of the nine hour ride, both of the girls' clothes were in disarray; their hair looked somewhat afro-ish, and scrapes were evident on both of their arms.

"TRUCE! Ok? Truce!" Misao screamed as Katana threatened her with one of her own throwing knives.

"You only want a truce because you don't have any weapons left," Katana smirked, taunting the other girl. "AH-_CHOO_!" She sneezed suddenly, completely ruining her menacing glare.

"No, I want a truce because I don't want to get arrested as soon as we get to the station for disturbing the peace. Besides, you'll keep spreading your infectious germs everywhere if we keep this going, " Misao retorted defiantly, sitting down in one of the slightly shredded seats.

"Since when have you ever been worried about getting arrested?" Katana demanded, sitting down across from the other girl. "A_choo_! And it's just a cold. You're just tired aren't you?"

"Yeah, this is kind of tiring; I mean we've been going at it since we left. Besides, I have that resort trip to worry about...I can't really enjoy my stay if I'm a wanted criminal there. We should probably act more like mature adults."

Katana stared open-mouthed at Misao, waiting for her to crack a smile, then realized she was completely serious. "Us?" Katana snorted. "Mature adults? Did I hit you on the head a little too hard? …..Oh-_OHH_! I see! You want to start behaving because of your little school girl crush!"

"What! I do _not_ have a school girl crush!" Misao growled, her cheeks glowing red.

"Really? Then what's Aoshi?" Katana baited the other girl.

"Aoshi is not my crush!" Misao whispered furiously.

"Yes he is and you're just too chicken to do anything," Katana remarked while ducking a chunk of couch padding thrown from the other girl.

"I am _not_ a chicken!" Misao snarled, digging her hands into one of the many holes dotting her seat.

"Oh that's right…you just sudden become desperately fragile, weak in the knees, and faint when you see him." Katana overdramatically stood and fainted in the aisle.

Misao's eyes narrowed. "Well, at least I'm not afraid to admit I like someone!"

Katana threw her hands up in the air. "UGH! For the last time, I DO _NOT_ LIKE SOUJIRO! End of story! And by the way--your little plot back at the dojo was way, _way_ out of line."

"And you pushing me under the mistletoe with Aoshi wasn't?!"

"That was payback--and you know what the say don't you? Payback's a bi-." Katana was cut off by another sneeze.

"Look--we have to come to some sort of agreement. I mean, after all we _are_ going to be staying in the same room at the resort and we won't be able to enjoy their 'fine dining, European styled rooms, hot springs, and luxurious beaches' if we keep fighting" Misao quoted from the resort's brochure. "And besides, you know that spa Kaoru and Megumi keep talking about? Well…I sort of got their appointment time mixed up with two other certain people…" Misao smiled evilly.

"They're going to be pissed." Katana stated her own wicked smile mirroring Misao's.

The girl's conversation was interrupted by the loud sound of a train whistle. The train began to slowly ease to a stop, and the passengers began to hesitantly return to the car to retrieve any luggage forgotten during their hasty departure.

"Looks like we're here," Misao mumbled, grabbing a bag and tossing another to Katana.

* * *

"Where _are_ they?" Kaoru asked in an annoyed voice, tapping her foot on the train station floor dramatically. "We should be heading to the resort by now."

"Gosh Kaoru, what's your rush?" Yahiko questioned.

"Megumi and I have an appointment at the spa today and we don't want to be late." Kaoru answered, frantically searching the crowd for the two missing girls. "Why can't we just go ahead and let them catch up?"

"You are going to a _spa_?" Yahiko asked, stifling a laugh. "I don't think a spa can help you…_ugly_." Kaoru's face contorted in a look of pure malice, causing Yahiko to shrink back. She turned around to confront him when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Don't listen to him Kaoru. You look fine." Kenshin said calmly. "I think I see Misao and Katana." He motioned to the opposite end of the platform and sure enough, both girls were walking towards them.

"What happened to you?" Megumi asked with disgust. "I can't believe you would go out in public looking like _that_."

The girls looked down at their torn and dirtied clothes, vainly attempting to smooth out some of the wrinkles. They sighed in unison, giving up their attempts entirely.

"So? We had a little…disagreement," Misao answered.

"Still, they will never let you into the resort looking like that. My _god_ I'm embarrassed to be around you. Couldn't you straighten yourselves up before we arrived?" Megumi shook her head in disgust.

"Sorry Megumi, but we don't have hours upon hours to waste _trying_ to look appealing." Katana snapped.

"What do you mean _trying_?" Megumi asked, anger coating her tone.

"Well…some people may like your- um, style, but all in all, it's not working for you. In my opinion I mean." Katana smiled innocently.

"Okay! I think we should head on to the resort." Kenshin hastily cut in, taking one of Kaoru's arms and then one of Megumi's as he led them away from the station.

"Aww… come on Kenshin! It was just about to get good." Sano smirked, walking after him. "Cat fights are always good entertainment…and I bored as hell on that train."

As the group moved on through the crowded resort city streets, Sano and Yahiko lingered towards the back of the pack.

"Hey Sano," Yahiko began in innocent curiosity, "Why is Kenshin always sucking up to Kaoru?"

"Huh? _Ohhh_. That's because he wants to get some," Sano replied simply.

"Get…some?" Yahiko asked in his childlike naivety.

"Sometimes you're so clueless it's hilarious." Sano chuckled, swinging his arm around the younger boy's shoulders. He leaned over and rapidly whispered in a hushed voice what 'get some' meant. Yahiko's eyes grew wider and wider, and his jaw dropped, nearly hitting the floor.

"He…he wants to do _that_ with Kaoru?" He choked out. "But…_why_?" His whole body shuddered in disgust.

"Yahiko…you're still too young to understand," Sano stated matter-o-factly, completely oblivious to the point that maybe Yahiko was too young to be told _any_ of this in the first place.

* * *

"We should head to our room," Misao yawned, twirling their room key around her fingers. "We have time for a nap before we head to the spa."

"Yeah…I could use a rest. When do you think Kaoru and Megumi will find out about their appointment?" Katana asked, glancing at the people around her. They all stared back at the two girls. "Geeze! Someone should take a picture or something."

"Just ignore them." Misao mumbled. She seemed to be partially sleepwalking towards the elevator.

Katana's gaze continued sweep around the resort's enormous and elaborate entrance room. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. Plush rugs with intricate designs covered the slick wooden floors. The upper levels overlooked the large, open lobby below. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling and illuminated the entire room. It was remarkable. But it was something--or rather, someone--to the left of the chandelier on the balcony of the first floor that caught her eye.

It was an extraordinarily good-looking man; he was young and tall with a handsome face. He was surrounded by a group of swooning girls who obviously like the tall, dark and handsome style. For a split second, their eyes met. Katana felt a shiver shoot down her spine as the man's eyes narrowed, glaring furiously at her.

"Misao, do you see that guy? The one upstairs, left of the chandelier?" Katana asked. There was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind; one of familiarity toward the handsome man. She just couldn't place him.

Misao rubbed her eyes and turned to look at him. "Hmm, he's cute." She stated as she stopped walking.

"I don't want to know if you think he's cute or not!" Katana growled, grabbing the other girl's arm and pulling her towards the elevator. "Does he look familiar? At all?"

"I don't know, not really. Why?" Misao asked.

"He's been glaring at us since we walked in."

"Uh, Katana, everyone has been glaring at us since we walked in. They must think we're diseased or something." Once they stepped on to the elevator, Misao glanced at the man again.

"But--nevermind. Forget about it." Katana mumbled as the elevator doors shut. The man's cold eyes never left her face.

* * *

"Crap! We're going to be late!" Misao shouted as she plowed through the people in front of her. "Ugh, how could we sleep for three hours? We have five minutes to find that stupid spa for our stupid appointment!"

"Hey, _you're_ the one that signed us up for that remember?" Katana groaned. The nap had been wonderful--at least until Misao woke up screaming at the top of her lungs that they were going to be late. All of Misao's griping and cursing had given her a headache, and her throat was now beginning to feel sore. She had tried to talk Misao into letting her stay in the room, but _no_, Misao wouldn't go to the spa alone. It was uncharted territory as she called it, and it was always better if you went with someone else. In other words, if it sucked and was incredibly boring Misao wanted someone familiar to kill time with.

"Shut up Katana! --and would you hurry up? You don't want to run into Kaoru and Megumi do you? Once they found out what we did, they'll be on the war path!" Misao said stepping through the door of the spa.

"We? Did you have a partner in crime I don't know about or something? Because _I_ had nothing to do with you taking their appointment," Katana stated taking a deep breath of the spa's incense. Well, the place certainly smelled nice. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"Good afternoon ladies. You must be here for the 4:30 appointment. If you'll follow me I will take you to your room," A sweet older woman dressed in a light pink kimono said as she bowed deeply. She led them past the reception desk and down a hallway towards the back of the building. "Now if you'll both wait here, someone will be in shortly for your facials."

"Uh, Misao, what's a facial?" Katana asked hoping up on one of the padded tables.

"I don't really know." Misao answered, sitting cross-legged on the table across from Katana. "It can't be that bad, can it?" Katana felt her stomach flip. She had a very bad feeling about this.

* * *

"My face is covered in green muck! How can people enjoy this?!" Misao demanded, annoyed. She and Katana were now in soft fuzzy kimonos, lying on top of the tables. Their hair was pulled back into a tight bun and their face hidden under a layer of green mush with cucumbers over their eyes. "You know I think we did Megumi and Kaoru a favor in taking their appointment. This is torture, and we can't even eat the freaking cucumbers! I'm already bored. Katana? Katana are you even listening to me?"

"Well it's kind of hard _not_ to listen to you. Especially when you're breaking sound barriers." Katana groaned again and rubbed her throat. "Just do what they said and relax. Go to sleep or something. I've got a killer headache and you aren't helping. So just be quiet for a few minutes would you?"

"Ugh. _Fine_." Misao mumbled. "Do you think this green stuff is toxic or something?"

"Misao, shut up!" Katana growled with threat evident in her voice.

"Cause I mean, those ladies didn't look too happy when they left. They could have…" Misao continued blabbing on.

"Misao they were pissed because you threw a bowl of this stuff at their head!" Katana remarked getting more and more annoyed.

"Well, you told me too." Misao stated defensively.

"I didn't think you'd actually take me seriously. Now, would you please be quiet? My head is pounding—I want to try and sleep it off," Katana said, trying to zone the other's voice out.

* * *

Katana slowly sat up on the table. Her headache was gone, but she still felt a little...odd. She looked around the room and realized that Misao was nowhere to be seen. "I guess she bailed." The door to the room slowly opened and to Katana's surprise, Megumi walked in holding a syringe in her hand. "Megumi?" Her voice was an octave higher than normal. "What are you doing here?"

"You know if you would take care of yourself, you wouldn't be getting sick." Megumi squeezed the air out of the syringe and rolled up on of the sleeves on Katana's arm. "Now this might hurt a little." Megumi warned her.

"Wait! Hold on, you're not going to poison me are you?" Katana asked looking over at the older woman.

"No, of course not, now hold still." Megumi raised the hand that had been holding the syringe, but somehow a long slender sword had replaced it.

"Megumi! Wait--don't!" Katana screamed, closing her eyes as she waiting for the blade to stab her. But nothing happened. She slowly eased her eyes open and saw the room was empty. "Ok, now this is getting weird." Katana mumbled, stepping down from the table and heading towards the door. She heard a soft dinging noise and the door in front of her slid open, revealing a small room with a desk in it. Cautiously Katana approached the doorway. "Kaoru? Is that you?"

"Don't just stand there! Step inside. We don't have all day." Kaoru ordered without looking up from the papers on her desk. Katana obediently stepped inside the room. The door behind her shut and she realized that it wasn't a room at all; it was an elevator.

"Kaoru what's going on?" Katana asked getting more and more confused by the minute.

"Do you have an appointment?" the other woman asked, finally looking up from her desk.

"Appointment? No." Katana stated.

"Then why are you wasting my time? If you don't have an appointment you shouldn't be here." Kaoru said looking back down at the papers on her desk. The door behind Katana slid open once again and Katana felt herself suddenly pitch backwards.

She braced herself for impact but soon realized that she was standing. "This is way too weird..." She mumbled, rubbing her temples. Looking down at herself, she saw she was wearing a long white kimono with silvery, intricate designs running up the side. On the floor was a long red carpet that cut between two aisles of benches, and led up to a stage at the front of the room she was now in. Bells seemed to toll faintly in the background but she couldn't really tell because her head had begun throbbing again. Her feet moved without hesitation and her body flowed forward down the aisle. She began staring at a man in front of her. His back was too her but she recognized him. She tapped him of the shoulder. "Soujiro? What's going on?"

He turned to her smiling. A warm, carefree smile that swept across his entire face. It was infectious and she couldn't help but smile back. For that moment everything seemed to stop, even the throbbing of her head, but then something behind him caught her eye. She reluctantly looked away from his face and found herself staring into the eyes of the man she had seen earlier. A sudden wave of realization hit Katana like a ton of bricks. She looked back at Soujiro and felt herself falling again.

"Oh, shit." She mumbled as she continued to fall into the darkness.

* * *

Misao shot awake when she heard a loud _THUMP_! "Katana? Are you ok?" Misao rushed over to her friend, poking her to make sure she was all right. "Geeze girl, you just rolled off the table, and _SMACK_! …That was pretty funny."

"What-? Huh? Man, that was one weird dream." Katana mumbled almost incoherently. She remembered she had something important to tell the other girl but she couldn't remember exactly what. "Misao stop poking me." She ordered as she attempted to stand up. Her skin felt like it was on fire and she felt even worse than she had before she had drifted to sleep.

"Here, come on…lets wash that gunk off you face." Misao suggested, getting a rag and water. Her playful attitude had changed to one of concern when she realized the other girl really wasn't feeling well. "Katana you're burning up. You need to get back to bed." Misao stated, taking charge of the situation. She hurriedly checked both girls out of the spa and led Katana away from the building and back towards the hotel.

Then it hit her.

"Wait Misao!" Katana said frantically, pulling her arm out of Misao's grasp. She swayed a little bit, but managed to keep her balance. Her heart was pounding furiously in her chest and her stomach was twisting into painful knots. "There was something I needed to tell you! It was about that guy from earlier…I remember where I've seen him…we are so totally screwed."

Misao sighed as she pulled Katana along behind her. She quickly turned, cutting into a small alley that would hopefully get them back to the hotel faster.

"Katana you just had a weird dream--don't worry about anything. You're not making much sense. Just--" Katana slammed into Misao's back when the latter stopped suddenly. "What do you want?" Misao asked defensively.

Katana peeked over the other girl's shoulder. Her eyes met the same menacing pair from earlier. She whimpered softly, her hands gripping tight fistfuls of the back of Misao's shirt. "See," she whispered frantically, "I told you we were screwed. Do you remember that one statue thing…with the swords and the gold…?" Looking around, the two girls realized that they had been surrounded by a group of not-so-nice looking guys.

Misao's eyes widened with realization. "Ah, crap." Misao groaned as one of the men stepped forward to grab her, but she quickly twisted away from his grasp. Her hand shot toward his nose, and a loud crunching sound ensued as he fell backward; blood poured down his face. Misao smiled and looked back at Katana, but her smile slowly began to fade when she raised her arm and realized there was a dart sticking out of it. The smile was replaced by a look of shock as she suddenly slumped to the floor, unconscious.

The handsome man from earlier leisurely made his way toward Katana. A sick smile had spread across his face. Katana looked down and realized that there was a dart sticking out of her own body. She could already feel its effects coursing through her. She tried to stay on her feet as long as possible, but in her weakened state she quickly lost the battle, pitched forward into the darkness.

* * *

Apparently, then Kenshin-gumi needed a vacation.  
So we gave them one...with a twist.  
We decided it would be best to give you all the wonderful background story of how Misao and Katana met. :)

Hope you enjoyed! We will try hard to get the next one out faster! Please stay will us--we greatly appreciate you all!  
Without you, this story wouldn't be possible :) You fans keep us going...slowly but surely, we keep going :)


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